Stranded
by rocket50
Summary: Hiccup and Toothless are attacked by the legendary "Skrill" and crash land on an island. Things unfold, leading the two scrambling to find a way back home to Berk.                           -Fluff, Adventure, Friendship-
1. Chapter 1

Setting: Post-Movie

This is my first fanfic, so read and review so I know what I can fix and what to improve on.

Disclaimer: Nope. Not mine, the storyline is, but that's about it.

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Stranded

Hiccup abruptly woke from his sleep, clenching the remainder of his left leg in agonizing pain. The spasms felt as though they were centered in the body part that was already removed! Hiccup was drenched in sweat, and this was made even worse by the cold autumn weather.

The elder had told him that the pain would subside within a few months if Hiccup didn't go hurting himself, but it had been 3 months and the pain hadn't lessen a bit. The herbs she'd given him barely scratched the surface of the tormenting pain that bothered him nearly every single day. The sensation was like his leg was twisted, and forcefully yanked off by a pair of pliers, probably the feeling left over from the amputation. He brought down his hand, rubbing his leg to soothe the pain until a quiet murmur caught his attention.

As usual beside his bed, the large black mass of scale and bones was awake and whined out of sympathy for Hiccup. He placed a hand on the side Toothless's head and scratched behind his ear where Toothless always itched and where he could never reach. Crooning out of delight, he gave Hiccup a wet lick to the face.

"Aghh, Toothless!" Hiccup chuckled at the feeling of the wet tongue and wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt. Toothless brought his head up nudged him in the chest, purring contently. Suddenly the boy felt as though there was something had gone missing… It was the pain! It was gone! Rejoiced, Hiccup brought Toothless into an embrace around his neck, amazed how the simple affection of his dragon could ward off such terrible pain.

"You always know how to make me feel better, huh bud?" Hiccup said before taking his arms off Toothless.

The boy tiredly laid back down onto his pillow, finally knowing he was able to get a good night's rest. But oddly, he kept lying there, not being able drift off. Even though the pain seemed to have temporarily warded off, he still wasn't able to fall sleep. Seemingly, Toothless couldn't sleep either; as Toothless makes a soft purring/snoring sound when he slept, and the room was as silent as a graveyard.

Hiccup sat up and opened the curtains to look outside at the night sky. It was an usually calm night, no fog, no clouds on the horizon, and the moon was shining brightly in the sky along with the infinite stars. The perfect conditions for flying… No. Stoic didn't allow him to fly at night. _Maybe if I fly with Toothless for a few hours and come back to the house just before dawn. But what if- Nah! It'll be fine! _Deciding that sitting there won't help any of them to sleep, Hiccup turned to the side of the bed, placing his hand onto Toothless's head.

"Hey bud, you wanna go for a quick fly?" Toothless pulled his head up in attention and made a grunting sound that was what Hiccup could assume was _yes_.

Hiccup quickly picked up his prosthetic leg off the floor and fastened the straps to his leg. He walked to the bedroom door, grabbing the riding gear and his coat from the rack on the way before creeping down the stairs, hoping his father wasn't awake. Hiccup knew that his father slept fairly lightly. Years of dragon invasions have trained him to wake up to even the slightest of sounds. Luckily for him, a loud snoring resounded from the room below, sending a wave of relief through the boy.

Satisfied that there was a very miniscule chance he would be caught, he motioned Toothless to come down the stairs while slowly opening the rear door of the house, praying to Odin that it wont creak as it usually did and wake his father up.

Closing the back door, Hiccup noticed that Toothless was hopping around on the grass, obviously excited about the sudden excursion. Hiccup beckoned the dragon to calm down, but the warning came slightly too late as he bumped into a metal spade leaning on the wall, creating a big "Clang" as it fell onto one of the stone tiles leading away from the house.

"Toothless! Settle down boy!" Hiccup hushed in a quiet voice. The young Viking then started to secure the saddle onto Toothless and run his usual checks to see if all the cables and the fin were working properly. But something in particular caught Hiccup's attention; one of the cables that-

Hiccup froze, as a hint of light shone from the side of the house, along the path that lead to the village.

"Hello? Who is there, show yourself!" A gruff sounding man demanded from hearing the clang of the shovel.

It was one of the night patrollers, who walked around the village during the night making sure everything in the village was secure and there was no mischief going on. Surely, the patroller will question why Hiccup was up so late and the resulting conversation could possibly wake up Stoic. Running back into the house wasn't an option either, as the door tends to make a lot of noise when opened quickly.

Thinking fast, Hiccup swiftly jumped onto Toothless and latched his prosthetic to the rudder pedal.

"Alright Toothless, lets go!" Urged Hiccup. Instantly, Toothless and Hiccup were in the air, soaring far above the island.

The watchmen turned the corner to the back of the house, and was bewildered at the fact that there was no one there. "Huh? I thought there was someone back here… Probably just a racoon, damn rodents." The watchmen shrugged off the feeling and walked back to his original patrol route.

Flight seemed to melt away the night, easing Hiccup's pain and a relaxing ordeal for Toothless. The wind through his hair, and the view of the tranquil horizon was a sight that Hiccup wished he could enjoy with Toothless a little more often. With Hiccup training to be the new chief, flying was a rare treat to both the dragon and its rider. The night sky twinkled with the countless stars and the big white ball that they called the moon. The water shimmered as they flew away from berk, both enjoying the scenery.

They flew for what felt like hours; neither dragon nor rider wanting to return home. The sky was slowly turning from a deep blue color into a lighter one, indicating that dawn was slowly approaching, and Hiccup knew that if they didn't return home before dawn arrives, the punishments would be unthinkable.

Hiccup leaned forward and patted Toothless's neck. "Come on bud, lets go home before dad finds out we're not in bed." Toothless groaned with discontent that they had to return so soon and promptly turned around, heading back to Berk.

_*****LINEBREAK******_

On Berk, it was just another regular morning. The sun was starting to rise, and almost no one had arisen from their houses yet. It was no different for Stoic, as he slept soundly on his bed… Until a loud knock was heard pounding on his door.

"Mmmf…" Stoic muttered, still asleep. Another knock was heard from the door, this time a little more rambunctious, fully waking up Stoic.

"Argh. Alright, alright, I'm coming, hold your horses." The man was clearly annoyed that his sleep had been disturbed. He got up and swung his legs to the side of the bed yawning at what little sleep he got compared to other nights. He slid off the bed, and walked to the front door, opening it to see Spitelout, his second in command.

"Chief, our trading ship from neighbouring tribe has arrived." Spitelout reported.

"And you disturbed my sleep, just to tell me that our trading ship has arrived?" Stoic was not too pleased that he had been woken up for such a trivial event.

"Yes, but some of the crew onboard are injured, and the ship is severely damaged from what appears to be… Dragon blasts."

Stoic quickly got out of the house and closed the door, walking in strides to the docks. "Go get the elder to the docks to examine the injured, and bring more men to unload the ship."

"Yes chief." Spitelout split off Stoic's direction and headed to the elder's hut.

_Dragons? I thought we were done with the problems when we killed their queen…_

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_**Re-edited for coherency and better writing**_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2, I wonder what's going to happen :]

Disclaimer: Not mine, Dreamworks owns the characters, blah blah blah, same old, same old.

Again, please read and review, and those of you who had taken the time to do so, I thank you very much!

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The ship was a battered mess. Stoic couldn't believe that the ship was still floating, _and _able to carry all the passengers and cargo. The ship had suffered several hits to its hull, all surrounded by scorch marks. The sail was torn in half with the mast leaning sideways at a precarious angle. Wounded Vikings were being carried off the ships, while the healthy members of the crew unloaded the cargo. Two men were moving a large crate off the ship, until the one of them tripped on a crevice between the planks on the dock, dropping the crate.

"HEY! Be careful with that! Bumbling idiots!" A man about the height of Spitelout stepped off the ship, yelling at the men with obscenities about their incompetence.

Stoic approached the man from behind, who could safely be presumed as the captain. "Are ya' the captain of this vessel?"

"Aye, and who might be the smug, half-pint fellow that is trying to sneak on m-" The captain turned around to the compete surprise that it in fact, the chief to whom he was speaking to. "Uh, aye Chief! I am the captain of this vessel."

Ignoring the bout of rudeness, Stoic needed answers, "So, what can you tell me about the thing that attacked your vessel?"

"Well chief, it was definitely a dragon."

"Yes. I know that. Now tell me-What species of, 'a dragon' attacked your vessel." Stoic shot back, starting to get impatient with the dolt..

"A Skrill sir, the devil went for a surprise attack and killed a number of my men, not to mention destroying my ship!" The man reddened with anger and clenched his fists as though he was about to get into a fight.

Stoic stood there, speechless that of all dragons, an extremely rare species such as the Skrill had to be the devil causing the problems. Skrills were said to be solitary, but extremely aggressive; attacking anything that came across their path with flames as hot as a Nadder's, but with the concentrated blast of a Gronkle. They are even rumoured to attack other dragons that have strayed away from the flock, adding to their solitary tendencies.

"Thank you for the information. I hope your men recover quickly." Stoic thanked the captain, then began walking towards the house, seeing if his son would be able to bring some sense into the brute. He himself would send hunts to kill the bastard, but knowing his son, he would argue that any dragon would be a valuable asset to the village and all it needed was a little understanding and trust.

The house was unusually quiet with no signs of him or the devil, but seeing as the sun had barely appeared in the morning, Hiccup would probably still be sleeping in bed, with the black beast guarding the boy as though he was its own. The Viking climbed the stairs to his son's room, and stood just outside the door reaching for the doorknob.

"Son, are you awake? We need you t-" He paused as he noticed the door was slightly ajar, and the man stormed through the door, with a shroud of worry.

The room was empty. No Hiccup, no dragon, no one. He made his way over to the bed, and to his discovery, the bed was stone cold. The man swung around and noticed that the wall-rack was barren; the riding gear that normally resided there was gone, and as well as Hiccup's autumn jacket. If Hiccup was clever, more often than he would've liked, he would've returned before dawn approached. The thought of his son disobeying him was infuriating, but the concern that his son was soaring somewhere off the island with the Skrill in the area overtook the anger.

_***LINEBREAK****_

"Oh man, I am _so_ screwed." Hiccup muttered with an enormous sigh. How long had they been flying before deciding to head home? By now, his father would've woken him up to start the day's, "how to be the new chief training". If his father found out that he defied his rules by flying at night… Oh gods, his anger would be matched with the time he let an entire flock of sheep be taken by a single Nadder. Maybe he could hide out for the day with Toothless, returning by night while his father is sleeping?

"Oh, how the gods hate me…" Hiccup restating his thoughts on the situation.

Toothless understood the feelings of the young Viking, and turned his head showing his trademarked smile, an encouraging croon leaving his throat. A smile crept on Hiccup's face. Even after all the months he has known Toothless, he could never resist the adorable smile his dragon whipped out whenever he sensed that Hiccup felt down, or he just wanted an extra fish.

In the distant, Hiccup could see that they were approaching an ominous fog. Toothless was becoming restless; his normally round pupils are now black slits.

"What's wrong Tooth- WHOAAA!" Hiccup asked, cut off a sudden dive Toothless had taken. The fog was so dense that Hiccup couldn't even see his own hands. The dive was at a 90 degree angle, judging from the nauseating feeling of it and he could see a distant blue land. They were heading straight for… for the ocean! Hiccup pulled on the saddle in desperation to get Toothless to level off.

Toothless obeyed and levelled off, now flying parallel to ocean. Suddenly, he jerked into series a spiral of loops and manoeuvres that Hiccup couldn't understand what he was trying to do.

"Toothless, what are you doing!" Hiccup yelled at the top of his lungs. The fog began to dissipate as they cleared it, Toothless still swaying from side to side and flapping his wings to pick up speed. Then, to his left, as clear as day; a dragon like he has never seen before. It was mostly brown, with large serrated spikes protruding out of its back lining up to its tail. The claws were intimidating as well, although they were more like talons than anything else. Yet the most horrifying part of it was the head, the skull has two bulky eyes imprinted into the skull where its nostrils should've been. The skull reaching to the back of it neck along with additional spikes at the end, assumingly to protect its head.

"Oh my gods, a Skrill!" Remembering what he had read from the Dragon Manual.

"I thought it was only a legend!" A sudden ear flap smacked his face, reminding him to stop admiring the beast and to start avoiding it.

They pulled into a shallow dive, the Skrill trailing closely behind, opening his mouth, green gas collecting. Out of instinct, Hiccup pushed his foot forward on the pedal in coordination with his dragon to execute a barrel roll, barely evading the fireball hurled at them from the enemy behind. The pair swung to the right and into a steep climb, trying to lose their foe. At the same time, Hiccup looked back and realized the dragon was advancing on them, opening its mouth to reveal two rows of noticeably sharp, serrated teeth.

The Skrill was now close enough to bite off Toothless's tail, when Hiccup pushed on the saddle, coaxing them into another dive leaving the Skrill confused to as where they went. Toothless took this opportunity of confusion and did a swift 180, soaring back upwards. Toothless gathered the familiar gas in his mouth and fired a blue ball of plasma hitting the tailfin of the Skrill. They bolted past the Skrill, now roaring in pain as it lost its balance, spiralling out of control into the ocean.

Hiccup sharply pushed down on the pedal, attempting to level off, until he heard a snap. The snap rang through his mind like an explosion had just gone off beside him and he turned his shoulder. His eyes widened to the size of Toothless's when he realized the cable connecting his pedal to the tailfin had just split in half. The artificial fin had unfolded from the lack of supports and Toothless began falling to the side, helpless to do anything. Hiccup lost his grip on the saddle and the straps securing him slipped off the hooks, now he was freefalling through the air.

"Toothless-!" The young Viking cried out for his dragon. Toothless flapped his wings desperately trying to get to his rider. The dragon reached up with his stubby paws, drawing in Hiccup by his vest, attempting to cocoon Hiccup in the same way he did when they battled the Green Death. Toothless noticed a small island nearby, and used what little control he had to alter his course to land as close as possible if not onto the small plot of land.

The dragon took his wings off Hiccup and flapped it furiously, trying to decelerate them as much as possible before making contact with land. But, it was not enough; they were just falling too fast, with too little control. The treetops were clearly visible now as they were falling closer and closer to the island. Toothless brought his wings back to shield Hiccup in the best way he could, sensing the fear of the boy. If he couldn't survive the crash, at least his rider could.

Then everything went black.

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OH GOD, WHAT HAVE I DONE! I feel terrible now ._.

If you have read this far, please take the chance to give me your feedback! Its what motivates me to keep writing, and what betters my writing as well. Even though praise is nice, I'd still like to see what I can improve on. And if you feel that I deserve total praise, then fine.

The idea of the Skrill was in fact, from the Dragon Manual and the idea of what it looked like came from a drawing on Deviant art.

http:/*skepsisfox*deviantart*com/art/*HTTYD-*The-Skrill-162537082

(Just remove the asterisks)

Also, if you want some other fanfic that have the same ideals as mine (A story that doesn't change the characters and is in the same time period) I recommend these stories:

**The End of Everything** - NovaJane

**Mein Vollkommener Bescutzer **- Star-Stuck Inu (It's in English, highly recommended)

**Camping Nightmare **- fezakyuu

**A Downed Dragon is a Dead Dragon** - almne


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3, wewt!

For the bunch of you who have reviewed my story:

I cannot express my gratitude for you doing so because, it keeps me motivated to write more frequently (As I am not very disciplined when it comes to writing) and it allows me to understand which areas I need to improve.

Disclaimer: If How to Train your Dragon was mine, I would be in the studio right now, working 24/7 to get the next movie out.

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The waves of the ocean against the rocks was ringing in his ears as he began to regain consciousness. Then the feeling of aching pain in every part of his body was felt as he began moving his arms. Hiccup hazily opened his eyes, viewing the cyan blue skies, peppered with puffy white clouds. Hiccup sat up, almost doubling over from the state that his body was in. He had scratches and cuts all over his arms and legs, leaving his clothing tattered, small rips in several places. His head felt like it was just hit with Thor's hammer and his stomach felt as thought he was about to lose his lunch.

He glanced around at his surroundings, couldn't help but noticing a wall of grass in every direction. The young Viking pushed his legs, trying to rise, but tumbled back down onto his back as his leg refused his orders via a message of pain. Hiccup gazed down at his remaining leg and gasped at the sight of a deep laceration on his calf, sealed off by dried blood. He moved his hand over wound, recoiling at the pain. Hiccup inspected his other limb, relieved to see that at least the prosthetic held up better. A wave of fear washed over his mind; the full memory of the crash coming back to him.

"Toothless!" The boy remembering what had just happened. "Toothless! Where are you?"

No response.

Hiccup scrambled to his feet, ignoring the searing pain from his injuries. He put one of his arms in front of him, franticly wading through the grass, the other on his stomach, trying to ease his nauseated stomach.

His mind was clouded with worry and distress; How could he have lost Toothless? The dragon was cocooning him for the crash, there was no way they could've been separated!

The last bunch of grass was waded aside, revealing the edge of the cliff he was on and the wide expanse of an ocean in front of it. Hiccup inched forward to the edge of the cliff, gulping at how high above the ocean he was. The young Viking turned his head, scanning his surroundings to try to spot anything that could be his dragon. The grass to his left was trampled and a line of flattened grass the width of a bed was clearly visible running down the hillside to the beach. On the beach, he noticed a brown spec.

"The saddle!" Hiccup exclaimed as began he racing down the indent in the grassy slope, going as fast as he could, his injuries disagreeing. His mind was racing, trying to understand how only the saddle was left of a full grown dragon. His mind shrouded with worry and anxiety as he got closer to the saddle. The brown spec was more well defined now and Hiccup stopped in front of it, seeing that it wasn't the saddle, but instead the fin. He picked up the artificial fin, examining it. He was shocked at what seemed to be, bite tears on the leather and scratch marks on the iron supports.

"What could've done this?" He thought. "Maybe Toothless was attacked by another creature on the island? Toothless!" The young Viking cried with all his strength. Hearing no response, he drew his attention back to the fin.

The cable was still connected to the saddle, but extremely frayed in many spots, especially where the separation was. He fell to his knees at the sight of the cable, at the realization that this was all his fault. The night that they snuck out to fly, he saw something strange about the cable, but it slipped from his mind as the patroller forced them to take off abruptly. All it took was a little extra pressure on the already overused cable and it snapped like string.

"Oh gods… This is all my fault…" Hiccup covered his face with his hands, sulking at the realization that the crash was because of his blunder. Him and his best friend are stranded on a deserted island and it all happened because of him. He was lost in abstraction until a wet feeling in his lower leg brought him out of his trance. Hiccup glanced at his leg, the cut had reopened and now bright red blood was seeping out of his wound.

Hiccup held up the artificial fin, about to tear off the leather to tie around his leg.

"No, why am tearing the fin up? Toothless is still alive and maybe the fin will still work!" Hiccup rationalized. He put the fin down onto the sand and tore off a part of his pant legging below his calf. He tied it around the wound, help to prevent infected and to slow the bleeding.

Hiccup grabbed fin and stood up, and hobbling off the beach and sat down on the grass, where the trees protected him from the sun.

Hiccup desperately wished that there was anything that could lead him to Toothless. But there were no tracks, no scales on the beach, no roar in the distance from a familiar Night Fury, just the fin.

"Where could Toothless have gone? If he woke up and realized that I wasn't there, he would've gone looking for me… right? Or maybe, maybe he's forgotten about me… No. Toothless wouldn't forget about me, he's probably looking for me right now!" Hiccup began to feel an uncompromising urge to sleep. He laid down on the grass, his head resting on his upper arm. He lost consciousness as he fell sleep, his dreams vividly displaying his thoughts about Toothless.

_*****LINEBREAK******_

Everyone in Berk was called into the Mead Hall, awaiting an unexpected meeting called by their chief, Stoic. The chatter in the hall was deafening, everyone wondering the same thing; what announcement could be so important that their chief halted all regular duties in order to attend?

Stoic was standing at the center-front waiting for everyone to quiet down. He raised his hammer and slammed it against the stone side, the Mead Hall now silent.

"Hiccup has gone missing." The blunt message had revived the Mead Hall's volume of conversation, leaving everyone equally confused.

"How do we kno' that your boy isn't hiding out in the woods like he always does?" One of the men asked. The crowd dying down to a quiet whisper.

"This mornin' I checked his room, and both the devil and Hiccup were gone with their riding gear. I know what ya' going to say, 'how do you know he hasn't gone for a ride with his dragon' but the flying isn't what I am worried about, in fact, I'd be more worried if he walked then flew now. This morning, one of our trading ships returned severely damaged from what the crew reported was from a Skrill." Stoic answered. The Mead Hall was in a quiet murmur from the shocking news that the extremely rare Skrill was the one that attacked the ship.

"A Skrill? Are ya' mad? No one has seen one of those things in over a hundred years!" Another man criticized.

"And a Night Fury hasn't been tamed for a million years either." Stoic shot back. "The point is, the Skrill is the only dragon that, even during the queen's rule, would attack other dragons. Now that all dragons are passive, the Skrill is the only species that would attack our merchant ship, and I'm afraid that Hiccup might be a victim by the same dragon." The room was dead silent now, everyone trying to comprehend the events that their chief had told them.

"Now that you mention it, the boy hasn't been at the forge all day! The kid always shows up to work at the stall on time for his shift. I thought he was playin' hookie!" Gobber spoke out.

"Now, I say that we send a full search party right now; The Vikings with dragons will comb the nearby islands by air, while the boats will be sent out to scan the waters." Stoic ordered. He knew well that there are many islands in this part of the sea, many uncharted, and the chance that Hiccup would somehow drift or land onto an island that they will search would be slim at best. But that wasn't going to discourage the man; he needed to do whatever he could to find his son, and he wasn't planning to quit until he does.

"Now let's find Hiccup!" Stoic announced with a roar of himself and the villagers, now aimed at finding the boy who saved them and drastically improving their lives.

The villagers now poured out of the Mead Hall, going to retrieve their dragons and to prepare the boats.

Astrid stepped out of the Mead Hall, annoyed that Hiccup went on another adventure without her, and probably getting himself killed.

Snotlout took a few large steps forward, now beside Astrid with a smirk on his face. "So, if Hiccup isn't found, do you think that me and you will, you kno-"

"Don't even think about it." Astrid said, infuriated that Snotlout would even _try_ to pull a stunt like that at a moment such as this.

She was furious that Hiccup did another act of stupidity, now getting himself lost and possibly killed, but at the same time, she was deeply worried that he might've gotten himself seriously hurt. Her Deadly Nadder, Spiky lowered herself to allow Astrid mount her, feeling her emotions as whom she doesn't want to mess with. Spiky leapt into the air, now flapping her wings to get to a higher altitude.

Fishlegs and his dragon, HorrorCow were also in the air nearby, now flying closer to Astrid and Spiky. "I just did some calculations and the probability that we will find Hiccup on one of the islands that we search is 1 in 145." Fishlegs grimly reported.

Astrid wasn't too happy that her friend had less than a 1% chance of getting found. "It doesn't matter Fishlegs, we _will_ find him." Astrid assured.

"But the calculations-"

"No Fishlegs, math isn't a factor here. I know it; we will find Hiccup, whether it be me, or some other Viking, he will be found." Cutting Fishlegs off.

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I'm sorry for the amount of angst and pain emotions in the beginning of this chapter; I felt it was necessary as Hiccup woke up, realizing Toothless wasn't there.

Read and Review. I haven't written ANYTHING containing much pain before, so I need to know if I'm doing a good job, or my writing is crap and I need to improve. Seriously. Review.

Special thanks to WandaCosmoForever for the idea and Annabeth The Unicorn for giving me the confidence to follow that certain plot idea.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Yeah, sorry about the last chapter; I kind of rushed it… But this one is better, I promise!

Disclaimer: Same crappy old crap crap.

Reviews: I know this speech is getting old, but I still can't stress enough how important reviewing is important to me!

Hiccup sluggishly opened his eyes after a long nap, the mental image of Toothless still vividly present in his mind. The sun was about half way from the apex of the sky to the horizon indicating he still had a few hours of sunlight left. He sat up, his back not letting him forget about his injuries. Hiccup brought his hand over his leg wound, glad to see that the bleeding has stopped and no signs of infection had shown.

Hiccup stood up gently, cautious to not open the wound on his leg again. He knew that he still had to find Toothless. Normally, an urge to sleep like that wouldn't control him, but he had no choice; his body basically ordered him to lay down on the grass and close his eyes. Now that was over, finding Toothless was his top priority. As he carried the fin, he noticed a stick on the ground near the trunk of a pine tree and walked to its direction to retrieve it. He needed some sort of hiking stick that would take some of the load off his injured leg, and this stick seemed perfect for just that; It was as thick as about a steel rod he used for the fin, and the stick came up to his waist, a well sized stick for him.

Hiccup stripped away some of the dirty bark off the stick when he caught a glimpse of a lone scale on the fallen leaves. The boy ran to it, not even using the stick in the excitement. Hiccup bent down and brought the scale close to his face, hoping to Thor that this was his from Toothless and he was walking in direction of him. The scale was jet black, and had a glossy shine to it, no doubt from a Night Fury.

He looked around for anymore clues leading to his dragon and there in front of him, was a large rounded paw print heavily indented into the mud.

"Yes! Toothless, you're alive! I knew it!" Hiccup clearing all doubts from his mind that his best friend hadn't survived the crash. He scanned his surroundings, searching for more paw prints leading to Toothless. He eventually followed a trail of paw prints that led further, and further inland. Luckily, by this time of year, the ground was a big muddy mess, leaving indents in the mud easily seen and perfectly preserved.

"Toothless! Where are you bud? Toothless!" Hiccup called. He felt slightly less panicky as he walked further and further into the forest. To Hiccup, the woods was a kind of sanctuary, all the different plants and animal sounds were familiar to him as he spent a lot of time in it during his earlier childhood. There was no one to judge him, no one to tell him that he was a screw-up, and no one to tell him that he needed to be a great Viking and leader like his father. It was just him and the tranquility of nature.

After an hour of hiking through thick bush, he heard a growl emanating from his stomach, demanding food from Hiccup. He hadn't eaten since dinner the other day and now he was famished and his legs wanted to give out. But he wasn't going to deter from his mission from finding his best friend. He cleared away a few branches and walked forward into a large clearing in the center of the forest. The ground was covered in inch deep moss over gigantic boulders, and sure enough, in the center of the clearing was a napping black pile of scales; Toothless.

"Oh my gods! Bud, I've found you!" Hiccup cheered in a loud voice, dropping the artificial fin and waking up the sleeping dragon. Hiccup stepped closer, enthralled that he was reunited with his best friend after such a horrible ordeal.

"Toothless, bud! I'm so happy to se-" Hiccup interrupted but the sudden motion of his Night Fury.

Toothless leapt out of his sleeping position and into a defensive stance, his head low, and his teeth barring. The Night Fury growled at Hiccup intensely, his eyes now black slits.

"Toothless?" Hiccup questioned as he walked forward. Toothless cautiously stepped back, his snout flaring and growled at the boy as though he didn't know who he was. This dragon had a saddle on it, and half his tail was missing too, so it couldn't be any other Night Fury. But on the right side of Toothless head, just above his eye, and he saw a large bloody gash, with dirt and other debris stuck to it.

"Oh my gods, Toothless did you get that in the crash?" The young Viking taking another step towards the dragon. Toothless, now feeling extremely threatened about the boy stepping closer, sprung forward with lightning speed and swiped his claw at Hiccup in the chest. The claw broke through his autumn jacket, now dyeing red around the laceration. Hiccup stumbled backwards and fell onto the ground, one hand holding the new wound, while the other in front of him, trying to protect himself from his own dragon.

"T-Toothless! It's me Hiccup! Don't you remember who I am?" Hiccup pleading his dragon to remember.

Toothless leapt back, glaring at Hiccup, as if saying that it was just a warning for getting too close. The Night Fury bolted into the darkness of the woods, leaving Hiccup with a new injury on the ground.

Hiccup was horrified; why would his dragon attack him? The boy laid there, trying to comprehend what had caused his dragon to take such an action. Did Toothless hate him now because he caused him to crash _two_ times now?

"Toothless… Why-Why would you do this?" Hiccup almost in tears at the thought that his best friend attacked him.

Maybe, he didn't deserve a dragon and buddy like Toothless, and now the gods are punishing him. Then he remembered the gash above Toothless's eye. Maybe it was related to his memory loss? He could've gotten that from many places, either from branches in the forest, or from another dragon. The beach where Toothless ended up was riddled with large rocks-or boulders rather- that he could've smashed into-

"The crash onto the hillside must've given him a concussion, causing him to lose his memory!" Hiccup deduced, recoiling in the pain as he spoke. His chest laceration reminded him that Toothless is dangerous now, since he doesn't know who he is anymore.

He took off his jacket to check how bad of an injury that was. Hiccup was lucky; the claw mark had just grazed his skin, and if it were just a few inches deeper, it would've either broke a rib, or would cause excessive bleeding. But still, this injury was not to be taken lightly. It could still get infected, like his leg and possibly bring him down with a disease, and in this environment, that would be just as deadly as being killed by his own dragon.

Hiccup slid his jacket back on, feeling the frosty air of the cold autumn day. He was dumbfounded, how could he get Toothless's memory back? Then he noticed the half-chewed up fin beside him. Hiccup guessed that his dragon probably chewed it off. But, looking at the fin, an idea slipped into his head.

"I know! I'll retrain him like we did when we first met, that'll return his memory, right?" Hiccup hoping for the best, not even able to grasp the idea of what to do if it didn't work. He was about to set off in search for Toothless again, when he noticed that evening was approaching. There was no way he was going to be able to find Toothless in the dark, and the hungry forest beasts won't help him in finding his buddy either. He decided to leave this until morning, but the problem now is, where to find shelter? The demand from hunger and thirst was gnawing at him, but for the night, shelter had to be chosen over the latter two.

Hiccup got up with the fin and his hiking stick, now looking for a place to spend the night. It was mid autumn and the everywhere on the ground was crowded with either soggy leaves or mud, Hiccup judging was not the best place to sleep; the cold ground would increase the chances of him getting sick, and not to mention, sleeping on mud is not comfortable.

In the corner of his eye, he spotted an big uprooted tree. The trunk of the tree was resting on a mound of dirt, leaving a depression where the roots used to be planted. The tree seemed to have fallen quite recently, seeing how fewer leaves were in the depression compared to the rest of the forest. Hiccup approximated that the hole could fit three of him, a little too big to retain his body heat, and the depression was a bad place to be during rain since water tends to fill holes. But seeing how night was approaching, he wasn't left with many options.

The young Viking took everything that could be remotely useful from his clothing and placed it in front of him. On the ground was his small knife that he always carried around, -He was amazed at how it stayed on during a crash like that- a charcoal writing utensil, about a foot of string, and-

"Argh, my sketchbook's not here! How did my knife stay on when it was loosely attached to my belt, when my sketchbook was lost when it was in my pocket?" Hiccup said with an exasperated sigh. It wasn't the fact that he lost a sketchbook that he was frustrated about, but the fact that he lost a huge amount of possible tinder, which was a rare find in a moist, damp environment such as this. Hiccup checked the rest of his person, disappointed that he didn't have more resources to accompany the little he had.

Hiccup got up and began to start working on an acceptable shelter before nightfall. He found a few large logs lying around and he laid one end of the log on the vertically lying roots, and the other end, resting on the ground in front the depression, forming a small roof. Hiccup laid about seven logs for his makeshift roof, when he heard a howl in the distant. Wolves don't usually attack humans, but a lone human in the middle of the woods, emitting the smell of fresh blood? Hiccup should really get a fire, but he had no flint to create a spark, nor tinder for the spark to light.

"I will just have to take a chance tonight…" Hiccup not very pleased that there was nothing he could do. The sky now was slightly tinted orange, while most of the sky was night blue. Hiccup used the last bit of light to forage on the forest floor for fallen branches of pine to use as a mattress. He could use it as a roof for the shelter, but looking at the sky, it wasn't probably going to rain. The boy cleared the bottom of his shelter, removing leaves and rocks. The bough of pine he foraged was thrown onto the bottom of the depression, now creating a small makeshift mattress.

He called it a night and crawled into his shelter, which now had the pleasant smell of pine. He brought the fin inside his shelter and laid it next to him, a sort of symbol for him about Toothless. He closed his eyes ignoring the possible threat from the woodland animals. Hiccup fell into a deep sleep, his thoughts clouded with Toothless.

Dun-dun-dun, did you expect this? Well, I know Annabeth the Unicorn and WandaCosmoForever, WHO ARE WONDERFUL PEOPLE, already knew this.

Review, review, review. Like I said, it helps me figure out the bad parts of my writing so I can improve it next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Please review; It tells me what I need to improve on so I can write the next chapter with better quality. Also, if you enjoyed my story so far and you want it to continue, REVIEW! It's my motivation!

Just for reference, I always viewed Hiccup and his friends as the age of around ~15. Just in case if some of you are wondering.

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Surrounding Hiccup was a lush green forest with small streaks of sunlight peeking through the leaves of the trees above. He noticed that he was in a clearing, standing on green grass peppered with a multitude of different flowers, some he could name off the back of his hand, and others he had never seen. The young Viking gazed around, admiring the beauty of the expanse he was in. A few yards in front of him was a familiar Night Fury, who had his back turned towards him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, overjoyed to see his dragon. The boy began running towards Toothless. As he ran closer, the dragon seemed to tense up, his claws dug into the ground and no part of his body seemed to stir.

"Toothless, bud! I missed you so much!" Hiccup said as he ran up to the side of the Night Fury. He brought his hand up the dragon's neck, about to give him a scratch when Toothless suddenly leapt up into the air and pinned the boy to the ground with his paw. Hiccup felt the paw digging into his chest, limiting his ability to breathe. The dragon's breath smelled of rotten fish and the eyes looked of anger and pure hatred. Hiccup heard his heart pounding like a bass drum in his ear, his breathing short and irregular.

"T-Toothless! It's me Hiccup!" Hiccup pleaded to his dragon. The Night Fury opened his mouth with its teeth retracted and pulled his upper body off the ground, green gas now collecting in its mouth. The dragon aimed his mouth down at the boy, the gas now turning blue. The dragon breathed in through its snout as Hiccup slightly tilted his head away, his eyes still fixed onto the dragon with fear.

With a ear deafening blast, Hiccup watched in horror as the bright blue plasma ball launc-

The boy abruptly jumped up out of his sleep, his hand clenching his chest as he looked around, relieved that he was still in his shelter and it was all just a dream. His shirt was drenched in sweat and his heart was beating like crazy.

"It.. It was just a dream…" Hiccup sighed as he climbed out of the depression. The forest was dimly lighted, small peaks of early morning sunlight shining through the trees in certain spots. He could hear the birds chirping in the trees above, singing their usual morning songs. Hiccup ran his hand down his injured leg, checking to see how the wound was healing. Luckily, the wound wasn't unusually painful to the touch, and there were no signs of infection. Finally, some good news for Hiccup.

The young Viking stood up and stretched his arms, suddenly reminded by his stomach about how hungry he was; His stomach ached with hunger, and his throat was sore from a lack of water. He quickly scanned around the forest for anything that could be edible or drinkable. The teen slid his knife into his belt and began treading through the forest, leaving the fin behind in the shelter as he expected to return later.

Hiccup badly wanted to find Toothless to attempt reacquiring his memory back first, but his stomach strongly disagreed. He knew he wouldn't be able make rational decisions when he was weighed down by hunger and thirst.

Exploring the forest nearby his shelter, he stumbled onto a bush that was dotted with different berries. Some berries were red, or purplish black, but most of them were black. The stems were covered in small spikes, and under each berry were about five smaller leaves. Hiccup carefully plucked one off its stem and examined it, trying to recognize what kind of berry it is, and to see if it was edible.

It looked sort like a raspberry, but the thorns were too big and the color was much darker. On Berk, there were no berries like this, so Hiccup assumed this species of plant must be indigenous to this area only. A growl emitted from Hiccup's stomach as he stared at the berry, debating whether if he should eat it or not. Normally, he wouldn't even think about eating a wild berry that he couldn't identify, but he was just so hungry…

He popped the berry into his mouth, squishing it around his teeth, hoping that it wasn't poisonous. As he chewed on the berry, Hiccup's eyes widened at the realization of how tangy and sweet it was.

The young Viking ravenously picked as many of the unknown berries as he could without touching the thorns and shoved them into his mouth. Red juices dripped off the side of his mouth as he inhaled handfuls after handfuls of berries.

After eating a considerable amount, he happily wiped his mouth with his sleeve. The pound of berries he had consumed had staved off his hunger, as well as his thirst. Now he could focus on Toothless. Hiccup, now satisfied with a full stomach and a red stained mouth began walking back to his shelter.

"Now, how will I get Toothless to remember?" Hiccup pondered as he ducked under a branch. "Maybe I could get a fish and try offering him it again? It seemed to work well last time…" Hiccup disregarded this immediately because, one, how would he get a fish? He doesn't have a fishing rod nor any other fishing equipment. Two, Toothless would probably have an easier time to find food here and therefore less likely to accept it from Hiccup since he isn't stuck in the valley like the first time they bonded.

"I wonder if I'll ever get his memory back…" Hiccup sighed with guilt as he came into sight of his shelter. He reached into the shelter and grabbed the fin as he set off for the clearing where he encountered Toothless.

_*****LINEBREAK******_

As Hiccup entered the clearing, a chill went down his spine as he remembered the events of the night before. The boy inched closer to the center of the clearing, still a little shaky. Hiccup distinctly remembered that there was large mountain over the trees in the direction that Toothless leapt into. Hiccup surveyed the treetops surrounding the clearing, pinpointing the mountain that his dragon headed to. The boy began trekking into the thick bush in front of him in the direction of the mountain, hoping that Toothless hadn't turned when he left the clearing.

Hours had passed from hiking through the woods, his leg extremely sore and again, his stomach gnawed with hunger. But by then, the forest had thinned out into a more grassy plain, with trees here and there, but mostly grass that reached up to his knee. Fortunately for Hiccup, Grass was much easier to traverse than thick northern growth.

In the distant, a small shimmer of light shone from the surface of the ground. Curious, Hiccup got closer, realizing that the shimmer of light was from a small pond, and in front of the small pond was a cave embedded into the side of the wall of rocks that lead up the mountain.

"Toothless!" Hiccup hollered as he got closer to the pond. No response. Hiccup sighed with disappointment as he walked closer to the pond.

Gazing down, he caught a glimpse of a lone black scale sticking out from the plentiful rocks that surrounded the pond. He lift the scale up, it had the same jet black and the glossy properties as the one from the beach, no doubt that his dragon had been here before. He stepped up to the edge of the small pond and crouched down, staring at his reflection. At first glance, he couldn't recognize that this reflection was him! His face was dirty with grime and brown splotches of dirt, with dried blood on the side of his cheek. Hiccup cupped his hands, splashing water up to his face as he sighed with content at the feeling of the cool water washing away the filth.

A hot puff of air blew over his neck, compelling him to freeze as the hairs on his neck standing straight up. He heard distinct snort coming from behind him along with a continual low growl. He carefully stood up, slowly inching his way off the ground, trying to not startle whatever creature that was behind him. The young Viking turned around discreetly. He was ecstatic at the sight of Toothless, but at the same time, petrified that the dragon could kill him without thinking twice.

Hiccup took a step back, paralleling the side of the lake. The Night Fury stood its ground, teeth bearing and a growl emanating from its throat. Hiccup slowly moved his hand into his jacket and pulled on the handle of his knife. The dragon growled louder, asserting that if he even dare try to use it, the result would be messy.

The teen used two fingers and lifted the knife by its handle, moving it away from his body. The dragon nodded his head to the side of the pond, informing Hiccup that if he didn't want to be a Night Fury's dinner, he better dispose of that tool. Hiccup obliged and dropped it, a splash rippled the pond as the blade hit the water.

The dragon slightly dropped its guard as it relaxed its stance into a more docile one, its eyes still slits, but now less aggressive looking and more passive.

"Toothless, its me, Hiccup. We slain the dragon queen together… Remember bud?" Hiccup asked in a calm voice. He glanced over the red blotch of blood on Toothless's head. The wound was still visible, a poignant reminder of what a careless mistake did to his best friend. The young Viking stepped closer to the dragon, extending his hand with the artificial fin towards the Night Fury. Curiously, Toothless advanced closer to the fin, sniffing it a little.

"Recognize this Toothless? It's the fin I made to replace yours when I shot you down…" Hiccup spoke as he pointed to the missing half of Toothless's tail with his other hand.

The dragon huffed and trotted back to the direction of its cave, oblivious to what the human was saying. Toothless laid down in the mouth of the cave, its tail wrapped around the front of his body. The dragon knew that without the shiny object, Hiccup was just as dangerous as a rodent. With that, the Night Fury closed its eyes and snoozed off, his ears still trained to what the young Viking was doing.

"Well, what do I do now?" Hiccup said in sadness as he took a seat on the side of the pond, sulking. "I guess I really am a failure…" Hiccup said as his stomach rumbled loudly. Seemingly, the Night Fury heard this as well and got up, going further into his cave. Hiccup focused his eyes on the dragon as he walked back out, nothing different about him. The dragon treaded closer to Hiccup as the boy shifted anxiously as to what the dragon was up to. The dragon now loomed over Hiccup, who was now using his forearm to form a barrier between him and the dragon.

"T-Toothless, don-"

"UURK, HRRCH, HRRCH"

A sound was heard from the dragon as he deposited onto Hiccup's lap, a what seemed to be, the back half of a partially eaten rabbit with the tail still jutting out of the rump.

"Ugh." Hiccup recoiled from the foul smell of the rabbit on his lap. Raw fish, he could manage to swallow, but an uncooked, half-eaten rabbit with fur still attached? The teen looked up as the dragon tilted his head, questioning why Hiccup wasn't eating, since the boy was obviously hungry.

"Uhh, no thanks, here you have it." Hiccup offering back the half-eaten rabbit. The Night Fury shook its head, signifying that it was for the teen.

"What's that over there?" Hiccup thinking fast, pointing in a random direction. Toothless followed his finger and stared in the same direction, confused as to what the human was gesturing to. Hiccup took advantage of this brief moment and chucked the rabbit into the pond.

Toothless turned his head back to Hiccup, who was rubbing his stomach with forced grin appearing on his face. In his most convincing voice, Hiccup said "I guess you missed it! And yum, that was a tasty rabbit!"

The Night Fury glanced over to the small pool of water, and seeing the floating remains of the rabbit, untouched. The dragon snarled at Hiccup, insulted that his offering was rejected.

The young Viking crawled back, with an insulted Night Fury unfurling its mouth to show its fearsomely sharp teeth. Hiccup stood off the ground shaking while the aggravated Night Fury ambled back to its cave.

"Toothless gave me a chance and I BLEW IT! Great job Hiccup." The teen remarked, slapping the side of his forehead in failure. The boy slowly walked away from the pond, giving up for the day to search for a place to call home when a roar rung in his ear fro direction of the pond. Hiccup turned around and sprinted back to Toothless, another roar was heard, this time he recognized it as Toothless's.

Hiccup sped up, sprinting as fast as he could without hurting his leg. He halted to a stop, couldn't help but gasped at the sight in front of him. Toothless was snarling fiercely, his stance the most aggressive he had ever seen, and the receiving end of the snarling was another dragon; brown in color, and its tailfin looking like a burnt mess. The other dragon was the one he would never forget; it was the one that that they had to confront and was a partial cause for the crash.

"Oh gods, the Skrill…"

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Ooh, another cliff-hanger, that's how much I love you guys. PLEASE REVIEW MY FANFIC. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEXT CHAPTER QUICKLY, PLEASE REVIEW!

I don't mean to be rude and forceful, but reviewing improves my writing, but most important of all, it motivates me to keep writing. So now about the berries; I was referring the unknown berries as blackberries, which come in reddish purple, and black, depending on how ripe they are.

On a lighter note I cant help but notice that, after every chapter I write, the next one gets longer:

CH1 = 1373 words

CH2 = 1864 words

CH3 = 1972 words

CH4 = 2117 words

CH5 = 2633 words

Thanks for the last time, WandaCosmoForever for the idea and Annabeth The Unicorn for the confidence to go with it.


	6. Chapter 6

Stranded, Chapter 6.

Thank you reviewers for reviewing my story! It helps me out a lot by motivating me and allowing me to understand where the flaws are in my writing.

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The two dragons faced each other, flaunting teeth and positioning heads low to the ground in an aggressive stance, neither side wanting to lower their guards.

"Oh gods, the Skrill…" Were the only words Hiccup was able to piece together. There was no way the Skrill could've survived! It took a plunge from high above the clouds and straight into the ocean below! It-

A screech from the Skrill sliced through the air like knife to butter, the sheer volume interrupting Hiccup's thoughts and bringing chills up his spine. Toothless responded to this with a few roars of his own, unable to recall why this dragon was acting so aggressively towards him. The Skrill leapt into the air and pounced onto Toothless in a surprise attack, the Night Fury yelping in surprise. The two dragons wrestled on the ground, Toothless now confirming that the Skrill was no dragon to reason with.

The Skrill managed to free its paw from the fight and swung its razor sharp talons at Toothless, the Night Fury springing away from the tussle and onto the adjacent ground moments before the talons hit scales. The aggressor darted directly into Toothless, tackling the Night Fury onto the dirt, the Skrill landing on top in the advantageous position. The Skrill positioned its talons and paw over the Night Fury's neck, ensuring no escape. The brown dragon readied its maw, gas forming for a final blast to finish off the Night Fury.

"No! Toothless!" Hiccup cried hopelessly, frustrated at how he wasn't able to be more useful.

Thinking quickly, Toothless used his powerful hind legs and launched the attacker off, the Skrill's back slamming into the stone rock behind them. Toothless took this moment of confusion and threw himself at the Skrill with his teeth bearing for a paralyzing strike on its neck. With its long talons, the Skrill swatted the Night Fury aside. A small line of blood oozed from a cut on Toothless's shoulder as he picked himself off the ground, the dragon slightly dazed by the unanticipated move from the Skrill.

The Night Fury quickly returned to its aggressive stance towards to Skrill and snarled in anger, seeking blood for blood. The Skrill returned this with its own stance and set of growls, its nostrils flaring out hot steam. The two dragons paced in a circle, neither side wanting to attack at an inopportune time and giving the other the advantage.

The young Viking watched from across the pond, horrified at the sight of his dragon in a fight. There was no possible way that this would end well; either one dragon will die, or both will. He needed to stop this.

The boy rashly deciding what he needed to do, sprinted until he was in-between the two snarling dragons. Hiccup raised his arms, creating a barrier between the two dragons. The Skrill studied the human before it, its eyes in bewilderment. Who was this random human and why is it here? Its memory jolted, flashing back to the events of the aerial battle; it knew this human, This was the human that the Night Fury harboured on its back that aided him to shoot it down; the same pair that afflicted it with the curse to never experience the joys of flight again! The Skrill eyes changed from surprise to newfound hatred for the boy.

Hiccup immediately regretting what he just did, sharply turned and bolted away from the Skrill, who was now aiming to kill the much more frail human. The Night Fury's expression changed from aggression to confusion; unable to understand what had just happened. Who was this human, and why did it stand in-between two dragons in battle, obviously trying to stop the fight?

"Toothless-! Help!" The human cried.

Who was this "Toothless" the human kept referring to? It wasn't his name, dragons weren't even given names!

Hiccup sharply turned corners and sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him, the Skrill trailing closely behind. Hiccup checked back as he was sprinting and realised that… that the Skrill wasn't chasing him! Before he could react, a flash of brown smashed him on the back, his face slamming into the dirt. The teen hastily turned around, spitting out the dirt in his mouth. The boy peeked open an eye and was greeted by the pure hating eyes that was the Skrill. Hiccup desperately crawled back, sliding himself as far from the Skrill as possible, but to his unexpectedness, his back hit a wall of stone. The young Viking now stared eye to eye to the Skrill's two rows of terrifying teeth, who opted to finish him off.

The brown dragon began gathering the explosive green gas in its mouth, knowing that these were the last few moments for this pitiful excuse of a human.

"Toothless!" Hiccup bellowing out in a last ditch effort for his dragon.

Back at the pond, Toothless was in a trance, completely disarrayed by the events that had unfolded. Suddenly, an odd human call wafted through the air. That call the human made; that desperate call, it sounded… almost familiar to the Night Fury.

Instantly, Toothless was blasted with mental pictures and recollections from the past; the nest, the Queen and her control over all the dragons who resided. The small island of "Berk" or as the humans called it. The moment that he was shot in the air by a human contraption that restrained his wings, inevitably resulting in a crash. The hatchling that spared his life. The hatchling named "Hiccup".

Hiccup? Hiccup! The dragon was swept over by a wave of fear. Toothless shot off into the direction of the call, dreading that his human had been killed while he just stood there watching. How could he have forgotten about Hiccup? The human that spared his life when all the others would've killed him without hesitation! The dragon's apperception was cluttered with concern and guilt as he bounded towards his rider.

"Oh Thor, this is it…" Hiccup whimpered, acknowledging that death had finally caught him, sending him to Valhalla. The Skrill's mouth sparked with fire and on the brink of firing at the teen, a flash of black hammered the Skrill's side, sending it flying into the stone wall.

"Toothless!" Hiccup rejoiced, expressing gratitude for the dragon that once again, saved his life.

Toothless clung onto the Skrill's side with his stubby claws, drawing blood wherever the claws punctured its scales. The Skrill roared with outrage as it thrashed around the grass. The Skrill used all its strength and smashed its back into the wall with the Night Fury taking the hit, emitting a growl of pain from Toothless. The Night Fury was not going to give up in protecting his rider; he knew that if he released his grip on the Skrill, it would go straight for Hiccup. Ignoring all his pains, he hung on.

Hiccup scrambled to his feet and leapt out the way of the thrashing dragons. He didn't know what he could do; he was a weak human against a creature 6 times his size! The young Viking cursed under his breath at how useless he was at a time like this. He scanned his surroundings, searching for anything that he could use to aid Toothless. As he glanced around, an epiphany struck him; a plan. The plan would be extremely risky, but feasible if executed correctly.

The Night Fury finally released his grip on the Skrill and leapt off, leaving the Skrill in a whole new level of anger. Toothless rushed in front of Hiccup, blocking the Skrill's view of the young Viking. The two dragons returned to their stances, snarling and pawing at the ground to show hostility.

Hiccup ran up to the Night Fury's side and slung his arm around the dragon's neck, embracing as much of the Night Fury as he could. "Toothless! You came back for me! That would mean… your memory is back!" Hiccup exclaimed in relief. Toothless snorted in confirmation, understanding what the young Viking meant. A small trill of guilt escaped the Night Fury's throat, remembering how he treated the boy.

"It's fine Toothless, but now isn't the time for that, I have a plan." The teen whispered as he leaned towards the Night Fury. The dragon contemplated for a second at how this plan would go, although his eyes were still locked on the Skrill. The opposing dragon stood its ground nostrils flaring with steam rising out.

Toothless didn't like this plan at all; it was much too risky for his rider but then again, the dragon couldn't create a better plan anyways. Toothless hesitated for a second, but he and his rider nodded in acknowledgement before Hiccup left the safety of his Night Fury. Hiccup wandered closer to the Skrill, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Hey you overgrown lizard! Come get me!" Hiccup yelled as he waved his arms, further agitating the Skrill. "Or are you too scared?"

Puffs of steam blew out of the Skrill's nostrils as it diverted its attention from Toothless to the young Viking. With a final puff of steam, the Skrill leapt off the ground and towards the pesky human, its common sense overtaken by its anger.

Hiccup dodged the pouncing Skrill and bolted towards the pond, praying to Odin that this plan would work. The Skrill trailed Hiccup from behind, gaining up on the boy as it prepared to use its serrated teeth to kill the human. An unbearable burning sensation travelled throughout his leg as he sprinted, causing him to gradually slow down. The boy took a quick shoulder check and re-sprinted, noticing the Skrill furiously chasing him down.

The Skrill was mere inches away from the boy before Hiccup dived into the Night Fury's cave, the Skrill's spikes around his skull slamming into the walls of the entrance before stepping back, roaring in frustration. The Skrill repeatedly bashed its head into the opening, its spikes preventing it from entering.

Hiccup backed up into the cave, retreating a few meters before hitting the cave wall. He was relieved that the cave entrance was just big enough for a Night Fury, but not for a Skrill with 2 foot spikes jutted out from the sides of its skull. The Skrill pounded away at the entrance, causing flakes of dust to fall from the sides off the cave during impacts. At that moment, Hiccup noticed a putrid smell saturated the air, prompting the teen to glance to his right. Hiccup almost retched at the sight of a rotting deer corpse.

"Uhg, Toothless…" Hiccup remarked in disgust.

With a final smash to the stone walls, the Skrill stepped back in exasperation. The brown dragon opened its maw, visible green gas forming in its mouth behind the rows of teeth it harboured. The Skrill aimed its mouth towards the cave, no doubt killing the only occupant if it was allowed to be successfully fired.

"Now or never Toothless…" Hiccup muttered to himself.

As if on cue, a blue plasma ball shot into the Skrill's mouth, igniting the green gas. The Skrill's nostrils leaked out black smoke as its small eyes opened wide with realization of what was happening. A bright orange fireball burned furiously inside its mouth, causing the Skrill to roar in agony. The brown dragon stumbled back as its body began to turning to dust.

Hiccup winced at the sight of this legendary dragon dying. Although he has already seen the Green Death die in such a fashion, he couldn't help but feel guilty for doing it again to another creature. The Skrill was merely seeking compensation for what Hiccup and Toothless had done to it; cruelly taking away its freedom of flight. Hiccup couldn't imagine what it would be like for them if they weren't able to soar above the clouds again.

The Skrill disintegrated until nothing was left, and with the last gust of the autumn wind, the Skrill was no more, its dust scattering along with the breeze. Hiccup slowly got up off the cave floor, his leg disagreeing as he inched closer to the mouth of the cave. The teen cautiously peered outside, and was suddenly greeted by two green eyes with pupils as round as the moon.

"Toothless!" Hiccup expressed with rejoice. Suddenly, a wet tongue from the Night Fury layered his face in slime, prompting the boy to bring up the sleeve of his jacket. As he wiped the wet saliva, he noticed the gash on the side of Toothless's head, the one that he presumed, was the source of his amnesia.

"I did this didn't I?" Hiccup asked, placing his hand around the gash. The boy felt extremely guilty that his own recklessness caused them to land in this situation. "I'm so sorry…"

A soft croon from Toothless assured the young Viking that he forgave him. Toothless's ears perked up as he heard a strange rumbling sound emitting from his rider. Hiccup sheepishly placed his hands on his stomach, slightly embarrassed. The Night Fury turned around trotted back into his cave, leaving Hiccup wondering what could his dragon be possibly bringing out now.

"Wait, the only thing in the cave was the- Ugh! Toothless!" Hiccup recoiled to the stench of the dead carcass putrefying the air as the Night Fury dropped it in front of him.

The Night Fury noticed the grimaced expression of his rider and dropped to the ground laughing hysterically, or for a dragon, rolling around on the ground aimlessly while snorting and waving his paws.

"Useless reptile." Hiccup muttered playfully, a weak smile sneaking onto his face as he moved over to the cave, sitting down and leaning against the stone wall, messaging his extremely sore leg.

After the bout of silliness, the Night Fury picked himself off the ground and dragged the carcass away from the area with his mouth, assured that his rider didn't like it. A loud thud sounded in the distance as the Night Fury quickly bounded back to Hiccup with a white furry object hanging from his mouth. Hiccup stared at the white object suspiciously, hoping it wasn't another half-eaten forest animal.

The Night Fury smiled slightly at his rider's reaction and treaded up to Hiccup, depositing the object onto his lap. Hiccup examined it to be a rabbit, and uneaten as well.

"How'd you hunt a rabbit that quickly?" Hiccup asked his dragon, who just snorted as though telling him to think nothing of it.

With a happy smile, the young Viking prepared stand up to search for materials for a fire when he realized that he was in a grassland area, with few trees and no discarded branches for him to create a fire.

His smiled disappeared as Toothless wandered beside him, lying down to give Hiccup something to lean against. The boy shifted over to the Night Fury, sighing with content as he laid his back against the warm Night Fury's side. An idea popped into his head; Hiccup grabbed his hiking stick and punctured it through the rabbit.

"Hey bud, you think you could try to… cook this?" Hiccup inquired. Toothless would probably char it, but it was still worth a try, especially when he hasn't eaten anything today other than a few berries. The dragon nodded as Hiccup brought over the rabbit in front of Toothless's mouth. The dragon gathered the ignitable gas in his mouth and blew a stream of bright orange flames, cooking the rabbit while careful to not burn it.

The smell of cooked meat permeated the air when Hiccup brought out of the flames, his stomach rumbling in anticipation. With his knife, he slit open the charred rabbit skin to reveal perfectly cooked meat, his eyes widening at the sight of it.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

In no time at all, Hiccup had vivaciously devoured the whole rabbit, leaving him with a satisfied stomach, and a sleepy constitution. Hiccup yawned in contentment as he laid down on the cold dirt, resting his head on his upper arm. The sky was an orangey hue and the air was turning bitterly cold, causing the young Viking to shiver and pull his jacket closer to his head from the frosty fall breeze that swept over the island.

Toothless felt his rider shivering beside him and positioned his tail over the young Viking, pulling him in closer in concern that Hiccup might fall ill to the weather.

"T-t-toothless, what are you d-doing…" Hiccup asked sleepily and shivering from the frosty breeze that swept over him. He felt a warm body next to his as he was pulled closer to his dragon, who purred in content. The Night Fury draped his wings to shield the boy, Hiccup happily accepting his offer by snuggling up to his dragon in the warm enclosure that was created. A soft purring came from the Night Fury as Hiccup fell asleep, in a world of bliss from the new, much warmer environment Toothless had graciously provided.

* * *

Sorry for the unusually long update time; I had HUGE, HUGE writers' block when doing this chapter. I didn't know what to do with the Skrill, or in other words, how do I kill it without it looking too bloody and gory with Hiccup having a part as well. The dust part was how I imagined it in the movie; after Toothless shot his fireball into the Green Death, there was no body, no carcass to say that it had died, so I assumed that it turned to dust. A little bit unlikely but hey, it's a movie and that how I interpreted it.

There was also quite a bit of variety in this chapter from action, angst, friendship and in the end, a bit of fluff.

Tell me what you think of how I wrote the fluff and the angst so I can improve for next chapter! In fact, as you are reading this, do it. Do it nao.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Disclaimer: Same as the first.

Review my chapter if you haven't already done so; it helps me out a lot!

There's a little bit of fluff here and there with the more boring parts in this chapter; a miniscule bit of mock survival.

On a side note: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- How to Train your Dragon didn't win an Oscar for best animated film nor best original score… ._.

* * *

Spiky landed on the Berkian grass with a loud 'thud' as his rider, Astrid, prepared to dismount. She bore a distinct scowl on her face as she jumped off the saddle, freezing from spending the whole day flying through the cold northern seas in search of a boy whom she would give her hardest 'cordial' greeting if she ever caught a glimpse of him again. A sudden gust of frosty wind blew, sending shivers up her spine. Astrid cursed at what a failure the day has been; from dawn to dusk, not one Viking has been able to spot Hiccup nor Toothless. A cooing sound emitted from the Nadder beside her, sensing the negative feelings of the young Viking.

"Its fine Spiky…" Astrid assured, giving her dragon's chin a scratch. Adjacent to her, Fishlegs and his Gronkle, Horrorcow landed on a patch of bare land in a very ungraceful fashion.

"Whoa, whoa there Horrorcow!" Fishlegs exclaimed, almost losing his balance as Horrorcow stumbled when she touched down. The boy let out a sigh of relief before turning his head towards Astrid with a beaming face. "I knew it! My calculation-"

"Not now Fishlegs." Astrid asserted, cutting him off with an irritated voice. She was in no mood to be chided by anyone, especially by Fishlegs. The boy caught onto the message and returned to unsaddling his Gronkle silently.

Just from a glance, anyone could tell the girl was as annoyed as they came, but underneath, she harboured a high degree of concern for Hiccup. Even saying so, she would never show it, oh no, she would keep her tough exterior prominent, and still do everything that was required of her in her usual fashion; with an aggressive, and determined attitude. With a final strap, the saddle slid off and she began heading back to her home, tired and exhausted. Her Nadder trailed closely behind with a mutual desire for some rest and sleep.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

"What da' ya' mean you didn't find him!"

Spitelout stepped back in surprise at the chief's sudden outburst. "Every men on the search party reported no sightings of ya' boy nor his dragon!" Spitelout reported. "We'll try again tomorrow, but now the men need rest."

The words of his second-in-command stung him achingly, but he knew this wasn't a time for panic and rash decisions. The man regained his composure and rationalized his thoughts. "Alrigh' go get some sleep. Tomorrow, we will resume the search."

"Aye chief." Spitelout affirmed, walking off into the direction of his home.

Stoic was appalled that even with the efforts of every Viking on Berk, Hiccup was still not found. Despite there being times where he urged to furiously scream at Hiccup for doing a disobedient action, this wasn't one of them. Yes, the boy blatantly disobeyed his rules, Stoic fumed just at the thought of it, but what if the boy's injured? Or possibly dead? His wife, now his son? What could Thor be possibly punishing him for! The man let out a sigh as he sat down on the bench, careless tossing his ram-horn helmet on the table. Stoic immersed in thought whether to be furious or worried out of his mind. The Mead Hall doors creaked open slightly as a familiar figured walked in. Stoic didn't bother turning his head to take notice.

"I knew I'd findya' here." The other man said, lumbering towards Stoic in a his usual limping gait, avoiding to apply too much pressure on his amputated leg.

"What am I goin' ta' do Gobber? How many men am I goin' to keep putting on the search until I find the boy?"

"I knoya' worried for Hiccup, but you have other responsibilities as well, namely, being the chief." Gobber opinionated while plopping down on the bench. "Besides, he's got that black beast guarding him."

Stoic speechlessly stared down a miniscule scratch the table's surface, considering what the other Viking said. He couldn't just abandon his son when he could very well be alive, he needed to find him. On the other hand, Berk was a priority as well. The village was nowhere near ready for the winter season and many preparations were still needed to be done. But which one should be weighed as the bigger priority? The man's head ached with confusion and indecisiveness.

"Ya kno' Stoic, if you weren't around more often, I could've safely assumed that the boy was the adopted offspring of that Night Fury." Gobber playfully mocked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Stoic couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, the mental image of how convincing that would actually be was amusing.

"Well, I gotta' leave ya' Stoic. With ya' son gone and all, the stall's been pretty swamped with orders…" Gobber sighed before standing up and parting towards the Mead Hall exit.

Stoic valued the long-time friendship between him and Gobber, branching from when they were wee boys all the way to today. From the time from when Hiccup was being, well, Hiccup, to now, the man was always able to give genuinely helpful advice that seemed to make sense, whether it was allowing him to be the blacksmith's apprentice to keep him out of trouble, to enrolling him in dragon training, the suggestions benefited both Hiccup and the village. This time was no different; he knew he couldn't just act selfishly to save his offspring and cause Berk to be caught off guard during the winter, but he couldn't ignore his duties as a father either. Obviously, a compromise was needed between his two responsibilities, but for now, the large scale search resume until a final decision would be made.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

A pleasant, warm feeling seeped into his mind as he groggily regained consciousness. His eyes cracked open to see above him that the cover of Toothless's wing was slightly illuminated from what he could assume, was the morning sun outside. As he shifted, he realized that his movements were constrained, pulling him closer to the warm, sleeping Night Fury beside. The boy propped himself up on his elbows and gazed at large scaly black limb, laying across his stomach and bent in such a way that the paw was laid beside his head. Toothless was hugging him like a teddy bear! Although this was an odd predicament to be in, it was awfully warm. Hiccup didn't want to leave the warm embrace, but his bladder told a different story.

"Agh, Toothless… Come on bud, its time to get up." Hiccup said, pushing on the large arm of the Night Fury in a futile attempt to get loose.

Toothless groaned with irritation, pulling the boy closer and forcing a surprised yelp from Hiccup. "Bud, I need to go to the bathroom… You don't want me to go here, do you?" Hiccup asked sarcastically at the Night Fury.

Both of Toothless's eyes snapped open at the understanding of what his rider meant. With the intention of not wanting to be used as a latrine, the Night Fury took his paw off the boy and retracted his wing that covered Hiccup.

A rush of cold diffused the warm air that Hiccup enjoyed prior, inducing him to cross his arms as he picked himself off the ground. Simultaneously, his Night Fury rose, smacking his lips, still not wanting to get up. Toothless's ears perked to the sound of coughs emitting from the boy, prompting Toothless to turn towards his rider with a distinct look of concern.

"It's nothing bud, just a cough." Hiccup assured, convincing Toothless that everything was fine. The dragon seemed satisfied with his rider's words and departed Hiccup for a drink from the pond. Hiccup scanned his surroundings that the new day had given him; overhead was an overcast filling the sky for as far as he could see, leaving the world around him seemingly grey and bleak. The air today was a fair bit colder than yesterday, Hiccup thanked Odin that he had brought his autumn jacket or be in danger of severe hypothermia.

With a full bladder, the young Viking carried himself off into the adjacent bush, searching for a shrub he could call as his own. After finding an appropriate bush suited to his needs, he relieved himself while considering what course of action he should take for the day. Food wasn't a problem with the expertly hunting Night Fury at his side, and neither was water since there was a pond right beside them.

Hiccup finished up his business and just before heading back into the direction of his campsite, an odd hissing sound brought his attention to the ground. Hiccup jumped at the sight of a snake. Its head perched out of the bush, two black beads for eyes staring at the boy while threateningly showing its two fangs for teeth. Out of alarm, the boy kicked the snake with the tip of his boot, sending it flying into a patch of grass nearby.

Curiously, Hiccup crouched down and cleared away a section of bush where the snake appeared, unveiling a small indent in the ground. And on top of the indent to his awe, was five, perfectly oval white eggs. Smiling, the young Viking snatched the eggs and slipped them into his pocket, delighted that he could once again, have a reasonable meal.

On his way back to the campsite, he collected a flat stone, planning to use it in the process of cooking the eggs. After he washed the stones, he set it on two nearby rocks, creating a flat surface that acted like a stone pan. The boy pulled two out of the total five eggs from his autumn coat pocket, saving the latter three for lunch. Cautious to not waste a potential meal, Hiccup carefully tapped the side of the egg against the stone. A sizable crack had formed on the side of the egg before he utilized the tips of his two thumbs and pulled the two halves of the eggshell apart, allowing transparent goop to slither its way out of the egg and onto the makeshift stove along with a bright yellow yoke settling in the center. The young Viking repeated the same actions with the other egg. Now all he needs is a heat source.

"Hey, Toothless! Can you help me with this?" Hiccup hollered to his Night Fury, remembering how grateful he was to have best friend that could act as a fire.

The familiar black figure emerged from the cave, wondering what his human wanted. Toothless lazily trudged over to Hiccup and saw the two eggs, shells broken and the innards spilled over a rock. He immediately realized what his rider wanted, and the sound of rumbling from the boy's stomach strengthened his assumption.

Humans were odd in his opinion; instead of eating the egg whole and consuming all the extra nutrients that existed in and around the eggshell, they not only ate the insides, but they burnt it as well, turning the liquid contents into a more solidified form that retained much fewer nutrients. He could never understand humans and their odd rituals. And with a quick gas collection, he blew a steady stream of orange flames underneath the flat stone, assuming that this contraption was used in a similar fashion as the one in Hiccup's dwelling. After a dozen seconds of the intense heat of the Night Fury's flames, the whites of the egg began to solidify, discharging the wonderful smell of cooked eggs around the area they were in.

"Okay Toothless, that's perfect." Hiccup halted his dragon once seeing that all of the transparent part of the egg was cooked to white. "Thanks bu-" A coughing fit abruptly halted his sentence as the boy brought his arm to cover his mouth. The dragon looked over with facial concern before his rider regained his composure, returning the look of his concerned dragon with a cheesy smile, indicating that everything was fine.

Toothless nudged the boy in the chest, causing Hiccup to emit a small bit of laughter. "Ahh, Toothless…" Hiccup said, pushing away the Night Fury's scaly snout.

The young Viking glanced over to the side and noticed the fin beside him and an idea propped into his head; he quickly grabbed it and placed the fin under the cooking stone and lifted it up and onto his lap in a fashion that the heated cooking stone wouldn't come into direct contact with his legs. At the same time, Toothless meandered over and curled around Hiccup, laying his tail in front of the boy and purposefully leaving his side to act as an object for the boy to lean on. Hiccup reclined onto Toothless, sighing as his back was greeted by the blissful warmness of the Night Fury's scales. His stomach rumbled, demanding food as Hiccup stared at the eggs; cooked to perfection and awaiting to be eaten.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

The cold autumn day rolled by, leaving rider and dragon in a state of exhaustion as they returned from exploring the island for a suitable cable replacement, but disappointingly to no success. Hiccup knew that he couldn't just tie the ends of the knots together, because one, the extra length of cable used in the knot would lock the pedal into the 'down' position leaving Hiccup unable to control the fin and two, the knot would be extremely uncomfortable for Toothless and Hiccup would not rather both a grumpy Night Fury _and _an enraged father upon his return.

With an exasperated sigh, the young Viking sat down in front of the cave's entrance, exhausted, tired, and most of all, demoralized. Toothless trailed closely behind and laid down with Hiccup, offering his usual comforts. The teen rubbed his injured leg, disappointment in his mind that a whole day had gone by with no substance even coming close to substituting the cable…

He carefully rolled up his pant leg to check the healing progress of his laceration, prompting Toothless to turn his head and stare at the large red blemish that took up nearly a quarter of his rider's calf. Toothless felt fully responsible for Hiccup's injury and felt guilty for not protecting him as he should've. Hiccup turned his shoulders and noticed the Night Fury's interest in his wound.

"See bud? It's healing, no infection, not a lot of pain..." Hiccup assured, sensing the feeling of guilt emanating from the dragon.

That was in fact true, it _was _fine; the wound had healed with miraculous progress; no signs of infection or other distinguishing features that suggested a non-properly healing wound. It was, at least in his opinion, the second stroke of good luck he'd had on the island. The young Viking tilted his head up, gazing in awe at the beautiful orangey-red sky which had appeared shortly after when the overcast had began to dissipate. He wondered what all of his friends and family was doing in Berk right now. Maybe they had forgotten he actually left…?

'Nah, they wouldn't forget me! They're probably searching for me right now.' Thought Hiccup. A slight bit of vertigo clouded the boy's mind before forcing him to return his gaze parallel to the ground.

"Must've overextended myself today or something…" Hiccup muttered. It had been an exhausting day, so he assumed that the slightly bout of dizziness was a result of overexertion during the day and sleep was probably the best remedy for it. Toothless let out a low pitched trill, seeming to ask if the boy articulated that he was hungry. The message seem to get to Hiccup about what the dragon was saying and he presented his Night Fury with an awkward stare. Toothless snorted in reply before gesturing with his snout to the pile of rabbit bones Hiccup had left on the far side of the pond from yesterday. Hiccup instantly got the message.

"Nah, not really hungry since that horse you got me." Hiccup said, referring to how Toothless actually hunted him a wild horse, misunderstanding Hiccup's expression when he said he was so hungry he could eat a horse. Toothless, satisfied with what his rider said, lowered his head onto his front paw, ready to sleep after a whole day of trekking through thick northern bush. Hiccup was ready for a rest as well; his muscles ached, and he felt as tired as he had ever been in years. The boy leaned himself over and onto the cold ground, moments before a black veil of the Night Fury's wing draped over him in a protective cover.

The familiar sensation of a warm dragon sitting next to him was bliss. He still deeply wished that he could be in his own bed, but out here, this was no doubt the next best thing. Hiccup closed his eyes and gradually dozed off into a deep sleep, warmed by the black beast sleeping beside him and comforted by a soft purr resounding from the Night Fury's belly.

* * *

Sorry for the massive delay in chapter, so many tests and projects that needed to be done that took up so much of my time. The copious amounts of procrastination could possibly have been a factor was well, considering the bits of research I had to do for this and the next chapter. (Whoops, foreshadowing)

Anyways, I can't wait for spring break because:

Break = more time everyday

More time = more writing

More writing = more chapter.

READ AND REVIEW! I looked at my traffic the other day and it seemed as though my reader numbers have been gradually declining and I really would appreciated why you do or do not, like my story. It helps a lot. Seriously, it motivates and allows me to have a sense of what I can do better.


	8. Chapter 8

Again, the number of readers every chapter for my story has been gradually declining; please review and tell me what is driving you away so I can fix it!

(Excluding Chapter 6, which somehow has **more** views than Chapter 5.)

Chapter 8:

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The constant sound of purring echoed throughout the night sky, adding to the sounds that nature had to offer. Toothless was contently wallowing in a dream that was him with his rider, Hiccup, though most of it was actually a certain Night Fury shamelessly gorging an obscene amount of Icelandic Cod. Toothless's mouth watered as he dreamt, happily visualizing himself indulging in his favourite food.

The night seemed to go by uneventfully, until an odd feeling poked at the Night Fury's side where Hiccup slept, provoking the sleeping dragon to wake. The green eyes groggily lurched open, his mind still in the deep haze of sleep.

As usual, his front limb was slung over the boy in a manner that allowed Toothless to have better protective grip over the boy if anything should happen, as he was more protective of the boy since the accident. Hiccup, while under his limb, felt rather warm. This was an odd sensation to the Night Fury because dragons had a constantly burning fire in their bodies that acted as a warming device which kept them alive even through the coldest winters. Because of this useful trait, dragons have a higher internal temperature and shouldn't feel a hot difference in heat between him and mammals, since the mammals' internal temperatures were lower, so why is Hiccup so unusually warm…?

The concerned Night Fury pulled his wing off the sleeping boy and his mind was daunted with fears at the sight that beheld him. Hiccup's slightly tanned face was now pale, and his cheeks were flushed with distinct red blotches. Normally, as Toothless had noticed, humans tend to dispel an amount of salty smelling liquid out of their skins in proportion to the temperature of their bodies, but Hiccup was extremely warm to the touch while his skin was bone dry! Toothless quickly brought his front limb off Hiccup's chest and stood up, a sense of urgency running through his mind to reawaken his rider.

The Night Fury brought his muzzle down to the boy, repeatedly nudging his rider. Each nudge got more forceful from the last in the sincere hope that one, _just one, _nudge will finally arouse the boy from his slumber. A growl of worry escaped the Night Fury's throat, seeing no response from the boy.

The Night Fury took a pace back, dreadfully staring at his rider's ill-stricken face. Fears ran rampant through the dragon's mind; was his rider sick? Is it his injuries…? Humans in general were frail enough already; they didn't have much fur apart from a few places, and they didn't have a flame to keep them warm, they don't even have claws! Now an unknown sickness has swept over his rider, making it that much worse for him to survive?

Toothless leaned forward, sniffing parts of Hiccup where the dragon knew he had injuries to, attempting to figure out what was causing his ailment. First the leg; no odd smell there… the chest held the same results. It couldn't be the injuries, then what? A disease maybe…? A sudden gust of wind from the sea reminded the Night Fury that it his human was even frailer in this condition.

With the motive to keep his rider warm, the Night Fury trudged over to Hiccup and laid adjacent, allowing the best sharing of body heat. Doubts wandered the dragon's mind while he laid down; if Hiccup is overheating without sweating, wouldn't warming him up worsen it? Or will leaving him in the autumn winter kill him? Toothless got back up off the ground, unsure what would be the best thing to do.

He pondered for a second before a conclusion was settled, the Night Fury decided that it was best to keep him over warm, than let him die of hypothermia. Again, Toothless draped his wings over the boy and brought him close to his side, hoping for the best that his rider would awaken soon. He crooned in anxiousness, unknowing what would become of his human companion.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

"I am calling off the search."

With that one, blatant statement, the Mead Hall fell into a state of stillness. Astrid was appalled; their chief had abandoned his son, and only after two days of searching! What was he thinking?

"I've thought about this for a while, weighing my options carefully. And I have come ta' a decision that it would be best… best for Berk if we halt all search an' prepare for winter." Stoic said with a considerable amount of sullenness.

The chief did make sense; Berk was definitely not ready for the upcoming winter, and the short timeframe they had to gather, store, and prepare supplies was further shortened by the mass search party that had been conducted. Even if a small fraction of the village would be out searching for Hiccup from now, to the beginning of winter, it would most likely worsen the degree of famine amongst the people during the winter and finally, allow more casualties at the feet of nature.

"The boy is guarded by his Night Fury, and I am confident, that te' black beast will do it with the utmost diligence, as shown during the battle of the Green Death."

A few murmurs of agreements arose amongst the crowd, acknowledging how especially protective this certain Night Fury was to its rider.

"By the first sign of winter's end, the search will resume. But for now, I believe that this is the correct route for Berk and-"

"Now wait a minute!" Astrid bellowed while pushing through the enormous Vikings to get to the center fire pit. "We can't just leave him out there! What if he's injured? Or sick? Fishlegs, tell them!" Astrid said, turning to Fishlegs. The boy's eyes darted around the walls in surprise that the limelight had suddenly flashed to him.

"Well-uh, if t-the whole villi-iage went out to s-search…" Fishlegs stuttered, trembling under the focus of every man in the room. "There would b-be a s-significantl-ly lower ch-chance that the required preparations would b-be done for the winter. Even if the s-search was extended for a day longer, t-that would be-." Fishlegs fearfully glanced at Astrid's eyes, fierce with anger and the thought of 'murder' looking dangerously present. The boy dropped his eyes to the ground. Astrid reverted her attention off Fishlegs and glared at the assembly of Vikings, determined to change their minds.

"Just because we're not 'ready' for winter, you're going to abandon Hiccup? The same guy who saved all your lives? Are you kidding me?" The young Viking girl screamed with a volume that seemed to reach Valhalla itself. With a final fist pomp she bellowed with her most motivating voice, "Now who's with me in finding Hiccup?"

The Mead Hall sat in an awkward silence, no one opting to raise their hands. Astrid's eyes widened in consternation at the selfish, double-crossing crowd that held the undeserving titles of 'Vikings.'

"I don't believe this! He risked his life for you, and now you're not even going to _attempt_ to risk your life to find him?"

A few guilty scratches on the neck was the only response the people gave. Seconds passed by in silence, before Astrid broke out in a second outburst. "You know what? I am going to find Hiccup, and I don't need any of you to help! Cowards!"

She stomped off into the direction of the exit, her path continuously created by the shifting of Vikings. She didn't look any of them in the eye as she stomped by, her furious demeanour did all the talking that was needed.

"Astrid, wait!" Snotlout yelled, sprinting to the door. He screeched to a stop, blocking the exit with his extended arms. "Think about it! If you go out there, you might freeze to death, or worse! and, plus, if Hiccup isn't here, maybe we could out together…?"

She pondered for a second about the first statement, but immediately dismissed it after Snotlout's second piece of ignorant utterance. Astrid snorted in rebuttal, not even bothering to respond the idiocy that was said. She nonchalantly pushed Snotlout aside like a piece of furniture before exiting the Mead Hall with the burning determination of finding Hiccup.

Down the road at Astrid's house, Spiky laid on the grass, resting from the whole day of flying. A few snorts of fire blew out of his nose each time he 'snored', an attribute that forced him to sleep outside in fear of causing a house fire. Astrid strode towards the dragon, debating with herself if this was too much of a hardship on her dragon. After all, most of their movements were the sole efforts of Spiky.

She gently placed her hand on Spiky's blue-yellow snout, feeling the warmth of his snores. "Hey Spiky." Astrid said in a soothing voice, not wanting to rudely yank him out of his dreams. The dragon lazily shifted its head, and opened its eyes to stare at his rider, wondering what was happening.

"We're going to find Hiccup, you up for it Spiky? It would be really exhausting and I really don't want to force you into-" Astrid's explanation was cut off by a nudge from her Nadder, almost appearing to understand that a favour was being asked, and showing that he wasn't going to ditch his rider, even through the hardships it may have. A smile appeared on Astrid's face upon seeing this, happy to have such a loyal friend.

She saddled up Spiky with haste, not wanting to deal with anyone who might try to change her audacious decision. Seconds before the last buckle was secured, a voice from her house roared at her, leaving her cringing at the realization of who it was.

"Astrid! You come back into the house right now!" Astrid's mother roared with intensity that seemed to run in the family.

Astrid turned around, facing the full front of her mother's enraged expression. "Mom, everyone in Berk is going to wake up the next morning, and forget that there is a boy out there who is possibly injured, sick, or even dead." She said, gesturing to the buildings around to illustrate her point. "And I don't care if you allow me or not, but _I _will find him." The young Viking hopped onto her Nadder, leaving her mother in a fit of rage, unable to speak at the defiance of her only daughter.

"Let's go Spiky!" She yelled. Spiky swiftly leapt off the ground, simultaneously flapping her wings to utilise the power of lift.

"Astrid, you come back here right now!"

The young Viking ignored her mother, pretending that she was too far away to hear her.

"That way Spiky, to the West." Astrid commanded, hoping that by luck, Hiccup and Toothless flown in this direction;

"When I find him, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind…" Astrid muttered under her breath. Apparently hearing this, Spiky turned his head towards Astrid with a slight tilt in curiosity.

Astrid looked up, noticing her dragon's inquisitiveness. "It's nothing Spiky, just idiocy."

* * *

Another plot twist, ooooo, actually there were parts that foreshadowed with hints which some of you may have caught on. But for the multitude of you that haven't, well, there's are blatant paragraph(s) there just for you. When I wrote the part about Stoic abandoning his son, it was with the notion that his whole villiage would be in danger of a famine if they went out searching for Hiccup. The rationalizing behind that was "not risking a multitude of lives, for one, even if it was his son's" and not because Stoic was selfish.

REVIEW PL0X! It helps me write the next chapter quicker, and with better quality. I know for a fact, there are 21 of you have alerted for my story. (Yes I MEAN YOU!) And I would like to see what are your thoughts on the speed, the detail, and other points about how I've written this story.


	9. Chapter 9

Spring Break finally. More time to write chapters and play Garry's Mod.

Anyhow, I'm getting scared here; the number of readers every chapter is really starting to drop, I'd really want to know what you think is wrong with my writing so I can fix it! And this in the form of reviews please.

To those who have already reviewed:

9 reviews in one chapter? Hellya! I love you guys so much. Reviewing is the best motivator a fanfic writer could ever get.

Chapter 9:

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The morning slowly crept in, replacing the clear, star-speckled night with a much more bleak, overcastted dominance. Toothless was wide awake, constantly scanning his surroundings for any threat that would delay, or even deter, his rider's recovery. The Night Fury stayed resolute to ensure that Hiccup would have the best conditions possible to get better, and no puny woodland creature was going to jeopardize it under his watch. Even though determined as he was, Toothless was heavily plagued with exhaustion, and sleepiness. But even if he was given the chance to sleep without leaving Hiccup defenceless, he doubt he could, with the mounting concerns and worries that kept jabbing in his conscience.

Toothless shifted uncomfortably, resettling away from a small pointed rock that ached in his side. A sound of rumbling suddenly shook the air, sending Toothless's ear flaps straight back in instinct. A growl escaped his throat as Toothless surveyed the clearing, looking for the source of the odd noise that was disturbing his rider's rest. A second rumble rung through the air, leading the Night Fury to gaze down upon himself in embarrassment, realizing that the rumbling was in fact, him. Another rumble emanated from his stomach, now along with the gnawing sensation of hunger.

The Night Fury groaned in despondency, forlorn that if he only didn't have this human to care for, he could go and get food without any prob-

No, Hiccup isn't a burden upon him! If fate had given another human from the boy's village the decision to be merciful, or slaughterous when he had crashed into Berk by the rope-stone contraption, it would no doubt, have been the latter. He should actually be thankful for meeting this unique human, for not only he had spared his life, but he'd also released him from the queen's control AND restored him to the wondrous freedom of flight! Not to mention, the boy had sacrificed his leg to do so… Toothless shook his head in guilt, ashamed that he would even _think _the boy was a hindrance.

Hours went by, Toothless still doing what he could to comfort Hiccup, by keeping him warm with his wing and body, and placing his front limb over the boy in a protective fashion Hiccup had called 'hugging'. Toothless couldn't really tell if his human liked the behaviour or not; speech-wise, he said in the morning to pull his arm off, but at night, he pulled closer to the Night Fury and felt as though he was much calmer when he had his limb slung over him. Humans, odd as can be. Scoffed the Night Fury.

The dragon fell into a trance, reminiscing in his fondest memories. He remembered the time when he was a wee hatchling in the nest, playing around with his brother and sisters under the careful watch of their mother. The time where he first met Hiccup… The good times they had shared, soaring through the air without a care in the world, the times they just lazed in the sun, napping while he provided Hiccup with a potent shade from the summer blaze. Oh how he missed flying with Hiccup… Even a few days subdued to the cold, unforgiving earth was enough to drive any dragon mad. And this was made even worse without his rider… His memories soon flashed over to fish, or more specifically, eating fish. He tried to get away from such thoughts, but they kept persisting, disobeying his will. Thinking of fish seemed detrimental to his whole plan of 'ignoring his hunger' it displayed so colourfully in his mind, and seemed to quell his boredom.

But soon, his hunger got to the point where the Night Fury knew something had to be done. Hunger in dragons had a much different effect than on humans; as dragons got hungrier, their fires begin to dim, and their internal temperature starts to lower in proportion. Eventually in reaction, their bodies cut off almost all heat from reaching their outer scales in an effort to be more efficient with calories.

Once this happened, the Night Fury knew he wouldn't be able to keep Hiccup warm, and in his conditions, that would be fatal. But how could he get food without leaving Hiccup in the autumn temperatures?

Abruptly an idea popped into the clever dragon's head; he could move Hiccup into the cave, then go find food! But then, the dragon's expression fell into a state of despair, wishing that he didn't have to move him.

But the hunger… If he didn't get food now, Hiccup would freeze to death! The dragon slowly picked himself off the ground, careful to not disturb his rider's rest.

The dragon's eyes drew back to Hiccup's. The teen usually looked peaceful as he slept, but not in his current state; his face was even paler than yesterday, and he started to sweat, which at this point, he couldn't tell if it was a sign of him getting better, or worse. Toothless felt sadness and remorse for his rider, wishing he could do something, but what could he do? The best thing would be getting him into the cave, then quickly running to hunt for food.

With final self-assurances that filling his stomach would be best for both rider and dragon, the Night Fury's teeth popped out of their sockets as he carefully reached down and clamped on Hiccup's already ripped autumn jacket. He gently lifted the boy off the ground, trying to not break his bones on top of his sickness. The Night Fury cautiously inched closer the cave, paw, by paw. From Toothless's perspective, Hiccup felt like a limp vine hanging from his teeth; swaying around with the motions of the Night Fury. He wished there was another, more gentler way of bringing him to the significantly safer cave, but with only a few stubby claws and one tail, there wasn't much of a better alternative.

Just before entering the cave another idea popped into his head, and Toothless lightly lowered Hiccup to the ground before releasing the freshly slime covered jacket. In his maw, Toothless accumulated a miniscule amount of green gas, just enough for the purpose he intended it for.

A quick ignition, and a steady stream of blue-indigo flames burned into the cave for a split second; warming the cave into a much more favourable condition for his human companion. Again, the dragon picked up the boy with intense care, and lowered him onto the now radiantly warm cave floor. He quietly exited the cave, confident that his rider would be safe while he went to hunt for food.

As he trotted off, the gory thoughts of woodland mammals coming to find a fresh, warm human for lunch wandered into his mind creating a vivid mental picture, but he immediately dismissed this, knowing that his scent was strongly centralized around the pond and no small animal would want to even come close to a dragon's habitat.

Suddenly, a rustle in the bushes caught his attention and Toothless's head snapped towards the source, catching a glimpse of a delicious rabbit, ripe for the picking. With the speed of lightening and death itself, he leapt into the bush, chasing it further, and further from the pond.

In no time at all, Toothless had caught five rabbits and a deer, and was bounding back towards his rider with a satisfied grin, prominently displayed on his face. Hanging from his mouth, was a sixth rabbit, which he planned to share with Hiccup once he recovered from whatever illness he had. The dragon happily trotted back past the pond, but stopped abruptly to sniff the air. A mix of odd scents wafted through the air but one distinct odour roused his attention, noxious and foul, the smell of… eel? The toxic fumes of eel wasn't nearly strong enough here to cause dizziness and disorientation in dragons, but it was still strong enough to make the Night Fury scowl in disgust.

Eels can't just crawl out of the sea and walk onto the island, so that must mean… Hiccup is awake! He must've gone fishing and caught a bunch of delicious fish while Toothless was out!

The overjoyed Night Fury charged into the cave, predicting inside will be his rider, fully-recovered, alongside with a large pile of Icelandic Cod waiting for him! He enthusiastically peered inside the cave, but to his horror, the only thing inside the cave was the artificial fin lying unceremoniously on the floor, and the only sound was the thud of the rabbit hitting against the lukewarm stone floor.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

"Oh Oliver, look at him! He's thin as a toothpick…" The woman said, appalled to have found a young boy left alone in the wilderness, and in this condition no less!

"We're lucky to be able to slip in before that damned beast came back to devour him."

A small groan emitted from the unknown Viking, prompting a gasp from the man's spouse. "We must hurry to the village elder, he looks like he won't last much lon-"

An ear-splitting roar suddenly pierced through the forest, causing the couple to cringe upon hearing the deafening cry.

"That Night Fury sounds pissed." Oliver obliviously noted.

"What do you expect? We stole its hard-earned meal!" The woman shot back, gesturing to the boy's jacket, tattered by claw marks.

"D-huff-Doesn't look like any boy I've seen from our village." Oliver panted as he jogged up the hill side with Hiccup in his arms.

A second roar sliced through the air, but significantly louder, and much more fierce. The couple's eyes snapped behind them, praying to Odin to not see an extremely enraged Night Fury bounding towards them, opting to reclaim its meal. Two sighs of relief came from the two, realizing that their luck held and nothing was chasing them except for the cold autumn wind brushing against their backs.

"Of all the things-huff-, to save a boy from, it just had to be a Night Fury…" The man groaned, not happy with the fact that they didn't just steal from any dragon, they had to steal from the extremely dangerous and rare Night Fury. "And I doubt the chief will be very pleased to see him as you are Mary."

"Oh come on, Oliver, have a heart! He's just a boy."

"Mary, you're lucky he's not heavy or I would've made you carry him." The man playfully threatened his wife, knowing well he would never do that, no matter how heavy the boy was.

Short of breath, the pair had finally surmounted the hill, and their small village was just at the bottom, tantalizingly close. They sped up as they descended, hoping it wasn't too late to save this unnamed boy.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

The Night Fury frantically thrashed around the pond, desperately trying to find the scent of his human. To his mounting frustration, the only scent he could pick up was the stench of eel! Anger swelled in the dragon's mind, irrationalizing this thoughts. Toothless leapt high to low, sniffing furiously on anything that might have a small trace of human, but the foul scent of eel kept overpowering any trace he could find! Once he found the creature that had taken his rider, well, it'll wish that it had never walked upon this earth…

Worry and concern sparked in his conscience, demanding to know why he had left his rider for the primitive need for food. A Night Fury could live weeks without a single morsel, and his will gave out within a few hours! Was he this weak? Would he just abandon his rider for food…? The familiar feeling of guilt started to seep in, glowering his every move. He quickly sniffed a certain footprint, and his eyes widened at the scent his brain had processed. It contained scent of human, but not just his human, two others! In front of this footprint, was another, and another. But eel was prominent in the others, dampening his olfactory senses.

The enraged Night Fury raced through the line of tracks, treating these unidentified humans as though they were his weak prey from his lunch. The footprints led up a hillside, but just before hitting the apex of the hill, Toothless halted to a stop. His senses seemed to melt as he got closer to the top, forcing him to take a step backward. The dragon gazed to the left, and noticed a large pile of eel, emitting its usual noxious stenches. To his right, it was a similar case; piles of eels were spread alongside the hill, effectively forming a barrier that no dragon would dare to pass, in fear of its effects.

The dragon didn't know what to do. He couldn't just jump through it! Any closer and the smell would knock him out! Toothless prowled along the hillside, looking for a small breach in the line, but to no success. These pack of humans are smart, using eels as a dragon deterrent, but what could they possibly want with Hiccup? They couldn't eat them… so what was their reason to take him?

Rage and fury reigned dominant in Toothless, swearing to the gods that if the humans did have a malicious intent with his rider, then no human within the false-safe confines of their village will be let go unharmed.

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Lots of Toothless thinking time, and a butt-load of Toothless emotions! Why? Because, its Hiccup, his rider, his human companion. Haven't once felt like you were going to kill someone for doing something terrible to you? Same with Toothless! The terrible fear of losing Hiccup once again turned his thoughts irrational, but the only question is, is it temporary, or will he go through with his intents?

I read this chapter, and felt as though my writing style seems… technical (AKA: BORING). I'm not really sure if its just me... or are you feeling the same? So read and review and tell me what you think.


	10. Chapter 10

Whoops! Forgot to give a shout-out to someone from chapter 8:

Kierax for telling me that people do in fact sweat when their fever has gotten to the point where the victim has gone into a state of unconsciousness.

Disclaimer(Neglected it for the last five chapters): NOT MINE, NEVER WILL BE.

Thanks to the people who reviewed! I love you guys.

Chapter 10:

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The world was a whirlpool, swirling around the boy, the feelings of vertigo and nausea prominent as the boy began to stir from his long slumber. Hiccup attempted to turn to his side in the effort to get more comfortable, but his arms and legs felt heavy as lead, pinning him down to the bed below-Wait… bed? His eyes snapped open, and saw that he was lying under a roof which was attached to short sidewalls, reaching up maybe a few times his height. This obviously wasn't his house; his house was much bigger than this cottage. So where was he…? He vividly remembered just lying beside Toothless the night before, comfortable as can be and basking in his warmt-Toothless! Where was the black dragon? Toothless wouldn't abandon him in this strange new environment, so where was he…?

Hiccup mustered all his already diminished strength and sat up, ignoring all the dizziness and fatigue his body tried to force him back down with. The boy knew Toothless had to be in trouble, why else would the dragon not be by his side! Even back in Berk when he was bedridden by a mere sprained ankle, the Night Fury never left the bedside, so why would it be different now? His head began to spin as he scanned the walls, but he pressed on and swung his legs over to the side of the bare wooden bed. Luckily, his metal prosthetic was left untouched, so he didn't have to put each strap on with a painstakingly slow pace; he had a best friend to save!

The young Viking yanked the blanket off his waist and would've thrown them across the room, but with his current state, it came out as a dreadfully painful excuse of a throw, leaving the blanket half a foot away from him in a rumpled pile of cloth. Hiccup ignored this indication of his condition and pushed himself off the bed, holding the bed post as a support while he tried to get himself steady.

It was déjà vu; the feeling of weakness in every part of his body, the mental demand to get up and move around. It was as though he just woke up after the Battle with the Green Death. But there was one thing missing from this almost perfect reiteration of a past event: Toothless, nudging at his side in rejoice. Again, the urge of finding his best friend poked at his conscience.

Hiccup finally found the strength and forced himself onto both legs, releasing his grip on the bed pole. The boy slid one foot in front, then the other, strength fully powered by the burning determination to find and rescue his best friend who had done so much in the past to save him.

"C-Come on Hiccup… A few more steps to the door. T-Toothless is-is counting on you…!" Hiccup managed to utter, attempting to motivate himself. The door was just within his reach, so Hiccup swung his prosthetic forward, leaning his body weight on it. The boy reached out his hand for the doorknob, but just an inch away from his target, his limb gave out, causing him to collapse onto the floor, panting in exhaustion.

All of a sudden, the sound of a different door creaked open, and Hiccup looked up to see that it originated from the other end of the room. A fairly thin woman in her mid-thirties stepped in with a scowl, aimed directly at the boy. "Tch, tch, tch. You shouldn't be moving around in your state."

"W-where am I, where's-"

"Now now, you're incredibly sick and you can't just go walking around." The woman asserted. "Ellen, can you come in here an help this young man back to his bed?"

"Yes mum." A shy, almost timid voice called from the room beyond.

Ellen, as Hiccup presumed, appeared at the doorway, holding a bandage cloth in one hand, and a wooden cup in the other. Hiccup judged her to be about his age, and having pitch black hair and eyes with the same hue. The girl's cheeks almost seemed to be on the verge of being hollow, but not quite at that stage yet. But what struck him most, was her meek demeanour, which was an entirely different contrast from the other Viking girls of his age back in Berk. Astrid for instance, had a permanent look of confidence and determination implanted onto her personality, whereas Ellen seemed more humble, which to him, was an odd characteristic of a Viking.

Ellen quickly placed both items on the table beside the bed, and walked over to the boy with a slight look of concern. She kneeled down beside the him and gently slung his arm over her left shoulder before pulling him to his feet. The motion of rising nauseated Hiccup greatly, but he managed not to soil the wooden floor. The young girl guided Hiccup to his bed with short steps, carefully not to let him fall. She helped him down on the wooden planks of the bed and reached over to the table, handing Hiccup the wooden cup, warm and steaming from the hot contents.

He gazed at the cup being offered to him, and doubts ran through the young Viking's mind about the legitimacy of their hospitality. Why were these people helping him, knowing he was a complete stranger? Would they want something in return after his recovery? Hiccup also desperately wanted to find Toothless, but he also knew he was never going to get more than a few steps out the door in his state… Reluctantly, Hiccup accepted their offering and brought the cup to his mouth, tilting it upwards to enjoy the warm liquid as it slithered down his throat.

In the midst of drinking, he lowered the cup to judge the taste of the odd beverage, and realized that it was slightly tangy, but most of all… sweet! Without hesitation, the boy downed the rest of it, oblivious to the fact that streams of the delicious drink were rolling down from the corners of his mouth.

"You like it? I made it myself." Ellen proudly announced.

The only response Hiccup gave was a simple nod, still weak from his attempt at leaving.

"So what is your name?" The woman inquired in a calm, gentle tone.

"H-Hiccup."

"Hiccup hmm? Strange name. Well anyways, this is my daughter Ellen, and my name is Mary." Ellen's mother said, gesturing to her daughter. "My husband, Oliver was the one who carried you here, but he's out right now, getting supplies."

"Carried me here? B-But why, I was with-"

"You don't have to thank us, we would've never forgiven ourselves if we left a sick young man in the wilderness by himself." Mary cheerfully stated, somewhat misunderstanding Hiccup. "When we found you, you looked as though you weren't going to make it past the night!"

"And plus, you were about to be eat-" Mary was abruptly intruded by the ear-deafening noise of the front door being slammed open, where a fairly well-toned man stormed in with an enraged expression. Another, less toned and slightly shorter man trailed behind, looking forlorn and distressed.

"But chief! He's just a boy!" The smaller man pleaded.

"I don't care if he's just a boy! Our village is in a state of famine, and I am not going to waste more food on feeding a newcomer!" The chief stomped over to Hiccup with an scouring eye, scanning every little feature of the boy. Hiccup couldn't help but lean away from the chief's scrutiny.

"Why have you come here?" The chief asked with a strong sense of rage.

Hiccup sat quietly, staring at the piercing eyes of their chief. His mind was racing to absorb all the events that had just happened, but all that came in result was white smoke pouring from his ears.

"Please chief! This boy needs to rest, he is still very weakened from the fever." Mary stepped in, blocking the man's view of Hiccup.

The large Viking glared at the woman with harsh intensity, but Mary refused to back down. The chief, with a final sigh, growled "Once he has recovered to the bare minimum of walking and proper speech, I want gone immediately."

"Aye chief." Both the smaller man and Mary affirmed at the same time. The well-toned Viking stepped out the door, and slammed it shut. A few muffled traces of obscenities were heard from outside, coupled with the pounding of metal objects against the ground.

There was an awkward atmosphere in the small home, before Mary broke the silence with a question directed towards the other man. "So, Oliver, did you get the herbs from the village healer?" She said, with a cheerful tone as though nothing had happened.

"Oh yes." Oliver happily responded, handing his wife a small, dried leaf. Mary quickly snatched it from her husband's hands and shuffled into the other room to prepare the herb. The man turned towards Hiccup, looking thoughtful and rather curious of this mysterious newcomer. "You're lucky you are; the elder said that this was the last herb of its type in her storage, and was the only kind that would 100% cure whatever you had. She said it was a pretty uncommon illness you contracted, although she had no knowledge of your symptoms other than what I described." The man shook his head in disbelief. "Blessed by the god she is."

Hiccup feebly lifted his hand and pointed at the door. "T-thooth…" Hiccup managed to utter, although his words were incomprehensible by anyone.

"Yes, that was Tilgaurd, our chief. So that means you've heard of him? I wouldn't be surprised, he's gone on many of our trading runs to many distant lands. He's quite a… well, memorable figure, dontcha' think?" Oliver finished with a smile, wanting to lighten up the mood.

A sudden prick was felt on the young Viking's leg, making him jump in reaction as he looked down to see Ellen, rolling up his pant leg to reveal the laceration he had from the crash. With caution and diligence, she patched it up with the bandage, and turned her head to face the prosthetic.

"Oh my, how'd you get this Hiccup?" She asked, pointing to his missing leg.

At that exact moment, Mary popped in with another wooden cup, but this time, the room filled with a flowery aroma as the cup came into the room. "Here. This'll make you feel much better." The woman said, offering the young Viking another cup as she sat down beside him. "The elder is great herbalist, and her mixtures could cure almost anything!"

The smell of the herb drink was so wonderful and enticing that Hiccup grabbed the cup without a second thought and angled it upwards, the mouth of the cup meeting his lips. His mind was predicting a sweet, warm drink filling his mouth, but instead, his tongue was greeted by a foul, bitter tasting concoction. Hiccup's cheek puffed out with the terrible herbal tea, unsure whether to swallow, or spew it back out.

"Drink it, I'll make you feel much better." Mary said encouragingly.

Hiccup unenthusiastically swallowed it, not wanting to offend these nice people. As the bitter drink slid down his throat, his whole body seemed to warm, and every muscle in every part of Hiccup felt magically rejuvenated. His feelings of nausea and vertigo vanished almost instantly, leaving Hiccup smiling and overjoyed.

"Feel better now?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, much better, thanks!" Hiccup happily showing gratitude. "So why was the chief, uhh, you know…"

"During this summer, the dragons had raided us non-stop, depleting our supplies almost completely! It's a wonderful stroke of good fortune that the attacks stopped by fall, or we would have no chance of making it this far into the autumn season. But still, the famine is harsh, and everyone is on the watch for more dragons." Mary solemnly said.

Hiccup pondered about what the woman said, trying to make sense out of it. After recovering from the battle with the Green Death, he remembered that in multi-tribal meetings with his father that many of the Viking tribes had reported that raids had stopped, but without any reason or cause. He knew that this was because his father; Stoic decided that it would be best to not tell the other tribes, or be called 'traitors to their species' and lose all the valuable trading routes to and from Berk.

The boy mentally pinched himself for almost talking about his dragon. These people were nice, but he knew that he couldn't talk about Toothless. But still, his Night Fury was strangely missing, and he needed to leave the village quietly and without warranting suspicion.

"So again, how'd you lose your leg?" Ellen curiously asked, prodding the iron cast spring.

"Well, uhh, I got it… From killing a dragon!" This was in fact true, but this was the only information he was going to give these people, no matter how friendly they were.

"That's kind of ironic actually because, my husband here, he rescued you from a Night Fury. It left you in a cave while you were unconscious and went out, probably planning to come back and eat you later. I assumed that's how you got that cut on your leg, and the slashes in your coat." Mary guessed.

"Uhh, yes, that's exactly how I got there. And, thanks for saving me from that… evil… beast!" Hiccup half-heatedly thanked, tilting his head a few degrees down in guilt for calling his best friend evil.

"I reckon you'll have the whole day to explore around in the village, as the chief probably won't expecting you recovering until tomorrow. And he probably won't catch you either; he's going out with a hunting party to kill the Night Fury that attacked you." Oliver happily announced.

"H-hunting p-party…?"

"Yes. I presumed that when it had found out that its lunch had been stolen, it roared so loud that it even reached the village. Now Tilguard is on a mission to kill the damned thing and call its heart as a trophy for all the trouble the dragons have caused."

Hiccup's vision began to blur, and his heart sank. As trained Vikings with a pure hatred and a lust for vengeance on the dragons, they had the real possibility of capturing Toothless! Especially when he couldn't fly! And if the hunters weren't successful, who knows what Toothless might do to the villagers after seeing them run off with his rider. Hiccup felt sick to his stomach.

"You still look kind of sick, you sure you don't want to stay and rest for a little longer?" Oliver kindly offered. "My wife and I wouldn't mind, neither would Ellen."

"Uhh, no thanks!" Hiccup said, jumping to his feet, and rushing to the door. "Thanks for the hospitality, I really appreciate it."

"But you can't leave yet, you haven't eaten any-"

"No, no! It's fine, I'm not really hungry anyways."

Hiccup quickly opened the door and walked out before closing it, leaving a mystified family inside, questioning his odd behaviour. The young Viking proceeded down the stone walkway to the main village, quickening his pace in order to not attract too much attention. As he strolled down, he noticed a huge mountain on the side of the village, and wondered if it was the same mountain he saw in the small forest clearing. If he was now on the opposite side of the mountain of where he and Toothless crashed, that would explain why he never saw any smoke coming from the village, as his line of sight would've been blocked by the monstrous mass of rocks.

The young Viking reverted his attention to the front and strolled down the path to the center square, while gazing at the different architectural styles and the different shops in amazement. Back in Berk, houses were decorated immensely with wooden carvings, and paints. But here, the houses were much smaller, and barely had any color, other than the wood brown. Likewise, some on the houses seemed really run; roofs were broken, holes in the side of the walls. Hiccup almost felt bad for these people.

He couldn't really estimate how big the village was, since it was on flat land, but did seem to have more people. Albeit the people wore the same style of clothing as those on Berk, they were fairly thinner, and there were much more of them, crowding the market place, buzzing around from shop to shop. The noise in the market was at a boisterous level, everything from bartering, to chatting, and to just well, plain yelling at each other.

There was also every type of shop imaginable, from a bakery, a boathouse, and to his right he saw… a forge! White smoke billowed out from the chimney, Hiccup's excitement increasing by the second. He could learn new techniques from these people, and apply it to Toothless's tailfin! The boy took a step in the direction of the forge, but halted with a frown, remembering he still had a certain Night Fury to search for.

Hiccup in a bout of disappointment, turned around to again, face the mountain as a bearing, before heading off in its direction, confident that was where Toothless had to be. The boy soon hit the end of the village, and began walking up an uncultivated hill slope, covered with grass that reached up to his ankles. Hiccup assumed that once he got close enough, the Night Fury would automatically pick up his scent on the wind and would immediately be bounding towards him, happy and with his tongue hanging to lather him in saliva.

As he walked through the grass, he noticed a pile of yellow and black, left unceremoniously on the ground. He cautiously trotted up to one of the piles by mere curiosity, but by the time he got within a meter of it, he would've bet that the smell had already burned off all his nose hairs. Hiccup was forced to pinch his nose shut if he wanted get any closer without retching, and he soon realized it was a pile of rotting eels. He gazed around and saw many similar piles, placed in even intervals along the grassy hillside, parallel to the village.

"Ugh, no wonder Toothless didn't come any closer. I wouldn't either…" Hiccup noted as he walked past the putrid line of rotting eels.

The sky was a now beautiful orangey hue, and within an hour or two, it would be pitch black. Being the stealthy dragon that Toothless was at this time of day, the chief could probably search all night and never find him! Hiccup assured himself.

But, this hope dissipated when a massive roar sounded in the distance, sending chills up his spine. Hiccup started sprinting towards the sound, fearing the worst. The cry was all too familiar to Hiccup; it the roar of a Night Fury being threatened. Then yells of men shortly followed suit, then lastly with the clanging of swords and other metal objects. His mind clouded over with panic and daunted visions of his Night Fury, killed by the blood lusting villagers.

The boy raced as fast as he could towards the general direction of the noise, hoping to Thor that this was some other rare Night Fury that couldn't fly. He quickly came into sight of the men, who were aimlessly running around picking up their swords and hammers. Hiccup gripped his chest and sighed, relieved to see no maimed dragon. Hiccup inched close enough to see each of the men's faces in detail, before lying down on the grass to be as unseen as possible. Hiccup would've probably fallen down by now, laughing at the display of such, 'Viking manliness', if only it wasn't for the gravity of the situation.

"It's the Night Fury! Call the villagers! Tell him to bear arms and hunt the beast down!" The familiar voice of the chief thundered. "Damn devil ran off for no reason! Coward!"

"But sir! Those things are extremely dangerous!" One of the men in the hunting party argued.

"A downed dragon is a dead dragon. Remember that." The chief responded in an unusually calm tone.

The hunting party ran off in the direction of the village, leaving Hiccup cringing upon that simple line. The line stuck in his head, repeating over and over via his conscience. He did this! He was the one who downed Toothless, and ultimately, he's going to be the one who killed him! Hiccup started to panic. The boy quickly stood up, and felt a hot breath on his neck, sending the hairs in the area to stand. With fear of whom it might be, he turned around and two large green eyes greeted him, the sound of a warbling croon filling the silence.

"Toothless!" Hiccup joyfully called, throwing his arms over Toothless's long neck and brought him in for a hug, finally feeling at ease to see his best friend unharmed. A loud purring resounded from within the Night Fury, a very accurate indication that his dragon shared similar feelings of rejoice. Moments of bliss went by before Hiccup finally let go of his Night Fury and stepped back, overjoyed to see his dragon without so much as a scratch.

"Hey bud, did ya miss me?"

The dragon scoffed.

"What, are you telling me you didn't miss me?" Hiccup asked with his usual style of sarcasm.

Toothless answered by swiftly pointing his head away from Hiccup, as if to say, 'Nah' to the human's silly question.

"Well, what was all that purring about? I'm pretty sure only the little Terrors do that when they want someone to give them attention." Hiccup got him. The young Viking beamed brightly at his triumph over the clever creature.

He suddenly felt a warm wet tongue lather his face in spit as he looked up at Toothless with a spiteful glare. "You know I don't like that right?"

Toothless responded with a second lick, understanding very well what Hiccup liked and disliked. This prompted the boy to wipe the slimy goop off his face with his ends of his sleeves, leaving his autumn coat smelling more like fish than himself. The dragon dropped himself onto the grassy terrain and unfolded his wing, inviting Hiccup to take a short nap. Hiccup smiled and sat down against Toothless's side, content to be reunited with his Night Fury. A calming purr was again, gently rumbling from the Night Fury, even further comforting the boy.

Their reunion was cut short, as a net was suddenly thrown upon them. Toothless jumped up in reaction and chewed at the net ropes, but the rope was too thick, and there were stones tied on the rope's ends, weighing them down, and ultimately, denying them of freedom. A multitude of lights came flashing towards them, getting brighter and brighter as the men got closer and closer. Bellows of cheers and exuberance went on about capturing a Night Fury rung through the air, loudening as they got closer.

A man proudly lead in the front of the crowd; it was Tilgaurd. Toothless fiercely growled upon the sight, proudly presenting his two rows of incredibly sharp teeth. As soon as the group of Vikings got within sight, the cheers of success died down to graveyard-like silence. Everyone was stuck in a state of awe, and including Tilguard, who's jaw basically slapped against the grass in astonishment at the sight that beheld him.

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ABNORMALLY LONG CHAPTER! O-O

Tell me what you think so far of this chapter. This is probably one of my most proofread chapters; I keep having this odd feeling that I did a crappy job. Maybe I'm just sleepy. Anyways, the beginning was rushed because Hiccup, woke and saw that his dragon was nowhere to be found. And at the same time, he was still sick and his thoughts weren't all together, leading him to some confusing and irrational thoughts.

Then at the end, when the men ran around grabbing the weapons off the grass, it was because Toothless did it (Spoiler) out of rage, and once he smelt Hiccup's presence, he ignored them and went for his rider instead.

More fluff? Less fluff? (I personally want more). So yeah, probably one, maybe two more chapters after this.


	11. Chapter 11

I've taken a few days off from writing just to rethink the next chapter(s), so that's why the updating schedule seems longer than the last few.

Review please, helps me find out my weaknesses in writing, and motivates at the same time, so why not take a few seconds/minutes to write me a review?

I wasn't exactly happy with the last chapter, as the ending didn't kind of make sense, but what's done is done, so let chapter 11 commence!

Chapter 11

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"Not only was this boy associating with this Thor-forsaken beast, he was n-…" The chief paused for a second, looking sick as he strained out the last few words. "-nestling with it!"

"So what! Toothless is my friend!" Hiccup blurted out, regretting it immediately as he felt a wet rag be forced in his mouth. Hiccup struggled to get free, but his hands were constrained together and his shoulder was in a vice grip by the much larger man behind.

The town meeting hall was in a state of shock, appalled that a boy would have such a disgusting bond with a dragon, a Night Fury no less; one of the most dangerous dragons that had been plagued on mankind!

Hiccup glanced over, and was horrified at the way they treated his Night Fury; he was shacked and chained to the bottom of a steel barred cage, and his mouth was covered with a metal muzzle. The poor dragon didn't even have enough room to struggle!

"A sickening thought, I agree. And what's more sickening, is this here." Tilgaurd waved his hand and one of his appointees brought in the saddle. "This was found near the campsite where this wretch was initially found. It's assumed to be a device for the boy to sit on the beast's back."

"Are you saying the boy _rides_ this monstrosity?" A man in the room cried in outrage.

Another man stepped up from the line of tall Vikings standing beside Tilguard. The man wore an apron and large leather gloves, and a clearly definable scar was implanted on the left side of his cheek. "Not just that, I noticed that there were pedals attached onto the saddle, hooked up to control cables that led to the back of the Night Fury." He spoke in a definite, almost technical voice.

The same man then walked over to the cage, allowing Toothless to give him a murderous stared as he passed by. Ignoring this, he proceeded to the hind section of Toothless with a probing look on his face, examining even the tiniest features of the Night Fury. "The pedals and cables, along with the fact that this Night Fury is missing half its tail suggests me to hypothesize that the boy has a valuable contribution in the dragon's flight. That would explain why the boy is such of a great importance to the Night Fury."

"That makes no sense!"

"Why would anyone want to help a dragon? Especially what they've done to us!"

Men and women began to blurt and vocalize their thoughts on the matter in an outraged fashion, demanding answers why anyone in their right minds would ever help a dragon, considering their attacks and savage actions amongst the tribes among the area.

Every word of hatred and contempt, whether directed towards him or his dragon, stung him with every syllable, and every word feeling like a punch to the gut. He felt so weak, so helpless… The young Viking desperately wanted to explain, explain how the dragons weren't so bad, just merely misunderstood! They were just acting his way because of their fearsome queen… But alas, nothing could be heard from the boy except for traces of muffled speech.

"Alrigh'! That's enough!"

The room immediately silenced under the thunderous roar of their chief.

"There is no possible way that a young man born under the tutelage of any Viking tribe would ever aid a dragon in such a despicable manner! This Night Fury, and possibly others, must have the ability to bewitch humans. This would be why no one has ever seen one of these devils and returned to tell the tale!" Tilgaurd explained, feeling fully confident and one-hundred percent sure of himself.

A buzz on conversation suddenly arose in the crowd, and every man and woman questioning the possibility of this.

This is ridiculous! Toothless doesn't have magic! Hiccup thought as he struggled to pull his hands free from the knot, but to little progress before the guard behind him gave him a painful smack on the head. Hiccup hung his head in defeat, questioning if these people will ever let them go home.

"The only way to free this boy from the Night Fury's control-"

Hiccup instantly snapped out of his musing by the chiefs words. The boy brought his gaze up towards Tilgaurd, with time seeming to go by with a painstakingly slow pace as the chief pronounced each word.

"-is to break the link by-"

Wait, he isn't suggesting… No, no!

"-killing the Night Fury."

They're going to kill Toothless? Hiccup's heart skipped a beat upon picturing such a horrifying thought. He needed to tell them! Explain the insanity of their words and prevent such a terrible fate from befalling on his beloved dragon! Hiccup resisted the man behind him with all his strength, but instead, it felt as though he was shackled to a wall, and he was resisting a pair metal handcuffs.

"Hey, chief, I think the boy wants to say something." The man said, gesturing to Hiccup with one free hand while still holding him under a secure grip.

"Yeah, let's see what he has to say about all this" A women from the crowd yelled. Hollers of agreements quickly followed, the villagers wanting to hear the full story of the boy before assuming such a ludicrous assumption about dragons having such powers.

Hiccup felt a sense of relief wash through him. He was going to be finally given a chance to communicate, the chance to save his Night Fury from these bloodthirsty Vikings. This rush of relief and hope suddenly deflated with the chiefs next words:

"If the boy is still under control of the Night Fury, and I am sure he is, then his words would be useless. He would be influenced by the devil to clear its name, maybe say 'it saved me once!'" Tilgaurd laughed mockingly. "His true words will appear once the dragon has released his control over him and that can only be established one way."

The young Viking felt as felt as though he was going to be sick; his stomach ached and his back was drenched in sweat. Even if they let him speak, even for the whole day towards everyone in the village, none of his words could be believed. Anything said that was even slightly positive about the dragons would be considered 'influenced' and that'll even _strengthen_ their resolution to kill Toothless! "There's no way out!" Hiccup silently screamed in the back of his head.

The young Viking turned his head in Toothless's direction, and their glares met. Toothless seemed to have known his fate, because he looked uncharacteristically defeated; his ear flaps were bent to the side in sadness, and his eyes, they seemed to be saddest he'd ever seen in Toothless! It wasn't the bout of sadness and demoralization presented after his crash on Berk, this was… different. Probably because back then, Toothless had nothing to live for, except for feeding the queen. But now, he had the freedom of flight, the companionship of a human, and free will! And he knew that it was all going to be taken from him by the blade of an axe. Hiccup couldn't bear to see his dragon in such a depressed state…

"Tomorrow, the beast will be slain, and until then, the dragon will be kept in the arena under watchful guards to ensure no chance of escape." Tilgaurd finally concluded. "Any disagreements?"

"Where will the boy be kept…?" The closest man near Tilgaurd inquired.

"In the same room as well, but under much more humane conditions." The chief assured, not wanting villagers to think of him as a monster. "Any other comments?"

Not a single hand stirred from the crowd. No one thought it would've made a difference if the dragon was killed or not. After all, it was just a dragon and many more had been slaughtered before it! Seeing this, Tilgaurd quickly turned and dismissed himself, walking towards the back door of the hall with a confident and overly sure gait. A different man in the line immediately stepped forward and cleared his throat, bringing the attention of the crowd towards him. "-Uchem-, Alrigh'. Everyone go home, the meeting is now adjourned."

The side doors opened and the sea of Vikings poured out of the meeting hall, leaving only a few guards, himself, and Toothless standing on the raised platform in front of the hall. Two the guards went to push Toothless's cage, while Hiccup was shoved into a walking movement, and was lead out the back door and into the village square.

As Toothless and Hiccup were herded towards the arena, many villagers stopped on the side of the road to look at the boy, some giving expressions of empathy and pity for the 'possessed' boy, and others a look of disgust. Hiccup did his best to ignore it and keep his eyes directed to the front, but he couldn't help feeling judged, and scrutinized as he was pushed by.

The guards eventually stopped them in front of a large, steel plated door, covered by rows of rivets. One of the guards who pushed Toothless's cage stepped up and turned a small bolt on the wall, prompting the massive door to swing open. Inside was what you would expect for an arena; a large ring, with smaller metal doors scattered along the circumference of it, where no doubt, other dragons were held in captivity.

Multiple bouts of dragon roars, and the sound of thundering slams against stone repeated themselves from within the arena, sending chills up Hiccup's spine. If this was a few months ago before meeting Toothless, Hiccup wouldn't feel anything different upon entering the arena and hearing such sounds, but now, seeing how dragons are now seen as companions rather than enemies, brought a sense of guilt back into the boy for the way his own people had treated dragons in the past.

"Say your prayers beast, because this arena will be the last thing you'll see." One man scoffed, bringing Hiccup out of his thoughts. This earned him a snarl from the Night Fury, but the man stayed resilient and never flinched.

They were again lead past another door inside the arena, until they stepped into a small room, dimly lit by a number of torches hung on the walls. One of the three Vikings left and brought in a much smaller cage. The other man untied Hiccup's hands and pulled off the rag covering his mouth, leaving Hiccup rubbing his sore wrists in agony where blisters began to form. The boy looked up and saw one Viking standing next to the cage, holding it open.

They couldn't, be…

"Get in." The man commanded, breaking Hiccup's thoughts.

"Tilgaurd said that I was to be in a more humane condition!" Hiccup cried in outrage, offended that they would even suggest he be treated like a wild animal!

"I'll throw in a pillow and a blanket, happy now?" He snapped back. Hiccup noticed a sword leaning against the wall beside him, and quickly stepped into the cage in fear of what might happen if he did not comply.

"At least the cage doesn't smell like dragon droppings, like you do…" Hiccup muttered faintly.

The man holding the cage apparently heard this and brutally slammed the metal door shut, before giving Hiccup a hostile glare. The young Viking swiftly turned his head and stared at a wall in the distance, whistling nonchalantly. He then heard a click as he turned around to see the man securing the door's steel bolt into place. Behind him, he saw Toothless in his own cage. Although the poor Night Fury was put into a bigger cage with his chains removed, his most likely uncomfortable steel muzzle was still left on.

The dragon looked at Hiccup sadly, feeling sorry for both him and his rider. Hiccup returned this with a slight smile of his own, assuring him that everything would be just fine. Toothless didn't share the optimism that Hiccup displayed, and gloomily laid his head on his front paws. All of a sudden, some spongy object was thrown at the young Viking, smacking him dead center in the face.

"Hey, what was that for!" Hiccup angrily snarled.

Toothless quickly propped his head up, growling loudly in tandem with Hiccup's outburst. The dragon wasn't too amused at how these pesky humans were treating his rider.

"Quiet down beast!" The man roared back. Toothless didn't lessen his ferocity for a moment, leaving the man slightly shocked at the Night Fury's reaction over this certain boy.

Curiously, Hiccup bent down and picked up a green pillow, which apparently the man threw at him. As he stood back upright, he realised there was a blanket, hovering a few inches in front of his face. The blanket was held by a hand placed into the open cage door. Hiccup snatched it from the man, not really happy about the treatment he was getting, considering he was suppose to be 'possessed' by a monster.

"Ungrateful wretch." The man berated before walking away with the other guards towards the arena exit. As they passed by, Toothless bounced up out of his sleeping position and snarled at the men, eliciting a jump from each of them out of surprise. Hiccup couldn't help but break a smile, amused how even though his dragon was muzzled and suppressed, he could still strike fear into others.

After the men left the room, and locking the door, Hiccup immediately began scanning the walls, searching for anything that would aid him in an escape. But to his disappointment, the walls were mostly bare, holding nothing except a few torches in places he could never possibly reach. Although he noticed lengths of rope lying here and there, but what use could they possibly be on a metal cage? Hiccup dropped down onto his blanket in a defeated fashion, before turning his head towards Toothless.

"Don't worry bud, I'll think of something…" Hiccup assured.

The dragon perked its head up and crooned loudly, hoping that Hiccup was indeed right.

The young Viking believed that with everything going on, he was never going to be able to fall asleep, but, within a few hours, every torch in the room had burned themselves out, and both dragon and rider were out like a light.

_******LINEBREAK*****_

The Night Fury was snoring away in a not particularly pleasant dream, before an odd noise called him awake. The dragon lifted open an eye and scanned the walls, curious to find out what odd noise was. Minutes had passed, and the noise had not repeated, possibly he was dreaming it…? Probably, the Night Fury decided.

Satisfied that nothing was out of the ordinary, the dragon shrugged and placed his head back onto his paws, urging to go back to sleep. Suddenly, a clearly definable click echoed throughout the room, snapping the Night Fury awake. The dragon traced the mechanical sound sourcing from the room's entrance as it quietly creaked open, where a tiny streak of light shined in through the crack.

There, a man appeared, bringing forth a loud snarl from the Night Fury's throat. This wasn't just any human, this was _him_.

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OH NO. THEY ARE GOING TO KILL TOOTHLESS AND HICCUP CAN'T STOP IT?

D:

So, read and review, and tell me what you think. (Sorry for the long delay, I just needed to figure out how I wanted to do the plot more)


	12. Chapter 12

To my reviewers, you are GREAT. Spending maybe less than a minute to write me a review is awesome and I appreciate it very much!

And oh yes, I'd guess some of you are wondering why I used modern names (Mary, Oliver, Ellen) and while using such an obscure name such as Tilgaurd. A very simple reason for this; what sounds more gentle? Mary, or Tilgaurd? I used the name Tilgaurd because I still wanted people to believe that these are still Viking people, but I also wanted to have characters with names that show their personalities. Subtle, as some people might describe.

Also: A meter is close to a yard. (For all you non-metric countries)

Chapter 12:

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FFFF- I just realised something, I had to fix one word in the last chapter's ending… Stupid me and my fail proofreading.

Suddenly, a clearly definable click echoed throughout the room, snapping the Night Fury awake. The dragon traced the mechanical sound to be sourcing from the room's entrance in the motion of creaking open. On the floor beneath it, a tiny streak of light shined in through the crack.

There, a man appeared, bringing forth a loud snarl from the Night Fury's throat. Even though the dragon's mouth was muzzled, the resulting sound was still menacing enough to cause the man shift back in apprehension. This wasn't just any human, the dragon remembered, this was _him_. Toothless snarled at the sight of this particular human, his hatred growing with every second that passed by. In the air, the smell of sweat mixed with adrenaline saturated the surrounding atmosphere. The smell of fear. It was strongly centered around the human, and he was definitely not wrong to be afraid of this Night Fury. This was the human, the same human that robbed him of his saddle.

The man took a cautious step closer, but stopped in his tracks as the dragon's growl further intensified. Behind him, appeared four others humans, three adult ones and a significantly shorter one, a hatchling possibly? It wouldn't matter if they were all mere hatchlings. These humans are part of the village that confined Hiccup to these terrible conditions, not to mention deeming the himself for execution.

A few whispers emerged from the doorway that under normal circumstances, no human would be able to hear from that distance but Toothless, equipped with his finely developed auditory senses, was able to pick up even the quietest murmurs.

"I-I don't want to go in there, what if the dragon controls m' as well?"

"Don't be an idiot, te' dragon can only control a single person at a time."

Toothless immediately recognized this next voice as the human tribe's chief.

The man looked unsure whether to believe Tilguard's word or not. Giving in with irritation for the man's reluctances, the chief shoved the one standing in front forward, effectively freeing up the doorway for the other humans to pass.

The four humans quickly shuffled passed Toothless's cage, most of them attempting to ignore the Night Fury's vicious gaze. They were heading towards… Hiccup! At the realization of who these humans were going for, the Night Fury sprung off the cage floor and into an offensive stance, snarling and hissing at the humans with an intense demeanour. The dragon feared what their intentions were with his rider. The group of humans stopped in front of Hiccup's cage shortly before one stepped forward and reached into his pocket to pull out a brass key that held the same size as the keyhole on Hiccup's cage. With obvious attention to being quiet, he inserted the key and turned it before another mechanical clicking echoed throughout the room.

The agitated hissing and snarling of his dragon slowly brought the young Viking out of his slumber, groggily blinking as to what all the noise was about. With a shrug, he obliviously labelled the noise as nothing and turned to his side, shutting his eyes once again, wanting to get to sleep before the executio- his eyes snapped open, fully realizing the reason of the noise; they were taking Toothless! Hiccup franticly threw off the covers and sat up, slamming his forehead into the man that peered in.

"IE! Watch it you runt!" Tilguard barked, bringing his hand up to his nose in pain.

The Viking then ruthlessly jerked Hiccup to his feet and pulled him out of the cage with a final 'clang' as the cage door was forcefully slammed shut. Hiccup struggled to free himself from the much stockier Viking, but the man held him under a tight grip by the collar of his jacket. The boy could hear the Viking cursing under his breath, muttering something about this task being 'distasteful'.

"Let me go!" Hiccup cried in vain.

The man ignored Hiccup's pleas and pushed him forward into a walk towards the arena entrance. Hiccup no doubt heard the growls and snarls of his dragon and glanced over to the cage, which was rocking back and forth as the Night Fury stomped and struggled against the cage bars. There was nothing he could do… The familiar feeling of helplessness began to seep in.

Just a few inches from leaving the room, the man abruptly stopped, almost causing Hiccup to stumble forward from the unexpected motion. Curiously, Hiccup peered outside. To his shock, there were hundre- no, thousands of villagers standing from all sides on top of the arena wall. The noise was level was boisterous and it seemed as though everyone was actually excited! Are these people going to make Toothless's execution a spectacle on an event?

"Get the dragon." Tilgaurd ordered the other three men in the room, breaking Hiccup out of distressed trance.

"No! Don't touch him!" Hiccup screamed at the man. He panicked and elbowed his captor mercilessly in the stomach, leaving him doubled over in pain. Realizing that he was finally free from the Viking's grip, he immediately sprinted off towards his dragon, ignoring just how poorly planned this impulse actually was. His mind was in a tunnel, staring only at the end and oblivious to what was on the side. His dragon needed his help! And there was no way he was going to gi- The handle of an axe smacked the optimism right out of him as he fell over in pain.

The guard looked down at Hiccup and gave a small chuckle. "You alrig' there?" The Viking asked Tilgaurd.

"Aye, the damn wretch elbowed me!" The chief jumped onto his feet and bounded towards Hiccup with the new look of vengeance written blatantly on his face. Once again, he clutched Hiccup's arm and viciously yanked him to his feet. Hiccup staggered beside the man, unable to keep balanced. His vision was doubled and his perception seemed to be inside of a dazed fog. Hiccup could feel something wet run down the side of his nose, sweat maybe? The young Viking quizzically brought a hand up and wiped off some of the liquid off his upper eye, and was shocked to see that it wasn't sweat, but instead the dark red stain of blood that smeared across his hand.

Suddenly, something forcefully jabbed him in the small of his back, sending him stumbling flat onto the floor. Hiccup groaned in pain and unsteadily rolled to onto his back. He helplessly gawked up to see the guard stare back directly down at him, looking even more furious than his father during one of his mess-ups.

"Ge' up!" The man spitefully commanded.

Hiccup hazily scrambled to his feet, still unsteady by the blown he had taken to the forehead. The guard grabbed him by the collar and guided him towards the door. Hiccup took a final glance back and met his gaze with his Night Fury's, before being forcefully shoved out of the room.

Meanwhile, the other men had already positioned themselves in front of Toothless's cage, ready on hand with metal shackles, and a cage standing ready for transporting Toothless. The Night Fury on the other hand, had suddenly stopped all his rampageous actions and stood motionlessly, staring at the door as his rider was dragged away by Tilgaurd. Anger began to build up in the dragon, with the influence of vengeance becoming more and more prevalent.

"I guess te' devil has finall' understood its fate" One man obliviously noted, seeing the dragon's unexpectedly differing demeanour.

With a shrug of agreement, the man pulled out another key. And with a final turn, the click sounded as the door began to unlock.

"Ready now, as soon as I open it, get the shackle over his muzz-" The cage door unexpectedly swung open with incredible speed and smashed the Viking dead center, sending him slamming into the stone wall on the far side of the room. A final thud sounded as the man slid down onto the ground and flopped over in unconsciousness.

The two other men stared at each other in shock, utterly confused and unsure of what to do. One quickly reached down and picked up a sword, and raised it with an unsteady hand while the other realised he had nothing to defend himself with and scanned the room in apprehension for his life. The dragon was nowhere to be seen! The devil wasn't in the cage, nor was it- Suddenly, a flash of jet black scales smacked the two men directly in the head one consecutively after the other, sending them sliding across the floor.

Toothless huffed in triumph at the humans that laid unconscious on the ground. But then, a slight itch suddenly made itself apparent under the metal muzzle, resulting the dragon wiggling its snout. The Night Fury felt something different about how the muzzle rested on his head now, and shifted his snout again in curiosity; yes, there was definitely something different. Then he realised, the muzzle had somehow loosened after the initial attack on the humans. There wasn't enough slack to shoot a fireball, but enough to allow his jaw to loosen a bit. He returned his attention to the fallen humans laying unconscious on the ground.

Normally, the Night Fury wouldn't even think of sparing these humans their lives, but because of his rider's situation, he was forced to. With the final decision that time is of the essence, the dragon reverted his attention back to the door, and within the quick glimpse of black, no soul was awake within the room.

Without warning, a ferocious roar boomed throughout the arena, eliciting a collective but nonetheless apprehensive gasp from the spectators. But there, standing in the center of the arena stood a dark figure, snarling with anger and dissent for all who were gawking at him from the behind the safety of the arena chains.

Protests of anger and confusion soon erupted from the spectators, all demanding why such a dangerous creature was let free into the arena.

The dragon ignored the insignificant squabbles of the spectators and sniffed the air, before the piercing ting of metal rung vibrated through his ears. The dragon immediately traced it and leapt off the ground and spun directly at the source, where he faced Hiccup. The boy stared at him with widened eyes dreaded with fear as he was still firmly held by the grip of Tilgaurd standing from behind. But there, just above Hiccup's collarbone gleamed a blade of steel placed intently to declare him as a human hostage.

The Night Fury's eyes drew to the red splotch of blood dabbed across Hiccup's eyebrow, bringing anger at the realization that these humans had indeed harmed Hiccup. The dragon screeched with an extreme intensity, sending the village spectators scrambling to cover their ears. Streams of grey smoke rose out of his nostrils as a follow-up to the monstrous outcry that had simmered down into a ferocious snarl.

"Aye dragon. Come any closer an' you'll never touch the skies again." Tilgaurd stated with a tinge of smugness in the tone of his voice.

Toothless inched a step forward, before hesitating as the blade drew closer to Hiccup's neck. The prominently displayed smile of Tilguard aggravated the dragon to no end. The nerve of this human to use his rider as a hostage…! And with mockery in it as well! The dragon knew he needed to weigh his options carefully. Acting rashly would no doubt result in his rider's death. The boisterous clamouring of the spectators moments before had died down into an unsettling quiet, with each and every Viking uncertain as to what was going on. The guards on the other hand, scrambled in every direction imaginable, confused and in disarray.

Time seemed to stretch out as the two parties stood, planting their feet firmly arena gravel with no signs of weakness nor qualm surfacing from either side. Beads of sweat were easily seen streaking down the side of Tilgaurd's face as he stood still as a statue, staring into directly into the beast's eyes.

But then, a loud metal creaking noise made itself apparent throughout the arena, snapping all heads towards the two humongous riveted doors of the ring's entrance. There, streams of Vikings marched through the gates in a rectangular formation, wielding a multitude of weaponry from battleaxes to war-hammers.

"Stay strong men! Te' beast can't control you, nor can it kill you in such numbers!" A voice commandingly shouted from the approaching army.

In distraction, Tilgaurd turned his head away for just a split-second, before the Night Fury realised the opportunity and pounced with incredible speed. Using his steel reinforced muzzle, he slipped under the chief's arm and slammed away the sword as though it was a mere toy, before finally following it up with a devastating blow to the man's chest.

Tilgaurd was thrown a quarter of the way across the arena before sliding across the arena gravel, and finally skidding to a stop right at the army's front rank.

Horrified looks emerged from the formation, some even trembling under the fact that the Night Fury had just thrown their chief across the ring like a rag doll. But regardless, the Viking army held strong, pulling their weapons closer with anticipation.

"Toothl-!" Hiccup's cheer of relief was cut short as the dragon, without warning, dug his head underneath the boy's leg and raised him up, sending the young Viking sliding down onto the dragon's back. "Whoa-!" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise. The boy scanned around the arena and his eyes halted upon the sight of the doors, still left opened by the entering army. The Night Fury looked back over his shoulder his with his rider's glares met. The dragon immediately understood. Hiccup nodded in affirmation.

"Right, let's go!" Hiccup called. He silently prayed to Thor for the strength to be able to hold on and not fall and split his head open. And with a leap off his powerful hind legs, the dragon bounded towards the entrance, determined to escape for his own and of course, for his rider's sake.

Tilgaurd at this time, had already started to recover from the Night Fury's devastating attack and quickly got back up, while giving life-threatening glares at his second in command for such idiocy. The chief turned his shoulders back to the pair, and immediately realized their direct headings; to the still left fully opened metal gates.

"You idiots! Close the gates! Hurry!" The chief commanded, causing the idle guards to scramble to close the monumentally heavy iron doors. With a simple hand gesture from Tilgaurd, men began breaking from the ranks and rushed towards the doorway, forming a large cluster of Vikings where the doors were slowly meeting together. The army held up their weapons in an attack-ready stance, preparing both mentally and physically to take revenge on the black beast that had caused them so much woe in the past.

"Come on bud, you can make it!" Hiccup encouraged his dragon, but not without a slight tremor in his voice. The young Viking laid his chest down against the scales and wrapped his arms around his Night Fury's neck in a tight hold, opting not to break his neck in the process of their escape. Normally, Hiccup thought, Toothless would have no trouble dashing past the door at its such slow rate of closure, but without the saddle, Toothless couldn't chance going any faster, or risk losing him.

The iron door began to pick up momentum as the pair sped closer and closer, with the iron edges just a little more than six meters from meeting.

This is going to be close… Hiccup thought, quickly glancing up. They were so close to the exit, but the doors… they're just closing too fast!

Four meters!

In the background, the crowd roared with life, cheering on their own men as though this was a sport to them. Easily audible cheers of "Take down te' beast!", "You sho' 'em Tilgaurd!" shot through the jumble of sounds like an axe slicing through the air as it was thrown.

Three meters!

"Toothless, we're not going to make it!" Hiccup insisted, patting the dragon's neck urgently. The Night Fury shook its head in disapproval. "Bud, we can find another way!" The young Viking urged desperately. "There's no point in killing ourselves now by smashing into the wall, and then being skewered into cheese!"

Not a single response emerged from his dragon.

Two meters!

Hiccup laid back down onto Toothless's neck, sincerely hoping that his Night Fury did indeed have a better plan than killing them both via broken spines. The men's expressions were easily identifiable now as the two drew closer and closer. Bead's of sweat rolled down Hiccup's forehead, mixing with the pre-existing dried blood on his eyebrow. This is it, the young Viking thought; all or nothing.

With a last sprinting step just moments away from colliding with the army's front rank, the Night Fury leapt up high, and did a sort of half-screw that sent the pair flying sideways through the air and directly overhead the army. Hiccup looked over his shoulder as they passed by and saw the men's eyes, bewildered to say the least. And of course Tilgaurd, facing him with a full glare of anger.

The two slipped through the crack with mere inches between iron touching scales before a black silhouette immediately expanded from the dragon's side and stabilized the flight until they touched ground. Hiccup looked back at the closed steel doors, admiring his dragon's agility to pass through the doors without a scratch on nether him, nor his rider. Hiccup's admiration for Toothless's intelligence and cunningness was cut short as screams of anger exploded from inside the arena, commanding the guards to reverse the doors.

Toothless returned into a full bolt, running directly through the alleys and street ways, to the distress of the villagers that had not attended the execution. Consecutive screams of horrors ran down the street with some even trying to jab at the two with weapons they had stored in their homes. But as usual, his dragon leapt and avoided all with ease before they halted to a stop. Hiccup was about ask why they had stopped, but then realised his dragon was paying absolutely no attention towards him. Under the muzzle, a snarl rung out and Hiccup leaded over, realising that Toothless was staring furiously at a man under his front paw. The man trembled and shook under the dragon's grip before bravely glancing back.

"H-Hiccup…?" Oliver stuttered, full of apprehension.

On the side, both Mary and Ellen were staring speechlessly at him as a basket full of bread fell against the ground with a final sounding 'thud'.

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Its been a long time… How have you been? I've been really busy, being dead and all.

In an irrelevant Portal 2 reference to respond to review number 77: Are you DEAD! I'M STARTING TO LOSE INTEREST IN THIS YA KNOW? PLEASE UPDATE!

No computers in hell friend. :P

But seriously, I've left this for way too long. Sorry guys, just too much of a combination between writers' block and procrastination. I actually had to write 3 variations of this chapter before getting one that I believed would be the best. So here you go and I hope to add more within the _**near **_future.

Don't forget to review! It helps me out a lot with motivation and ways to improve my writing!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Same

Thanks for reviewing! Your reviews help motivate me to get a more regular updating schedule and it helps improve the story.

Chapter 13:

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"Toothless! Let go of him!" Hiccup pleaded, but to no avail.

Toothless snarled intensely at the man underneath, who's breathing was getting increasingly sharper as the Night Fury's paw dug further and further into his chest.

Urgently, the young Viking leapt off the dragon's back and rushed up towards the front. "He's not the enemy!" Hiccup said as he pushed with all his body weight against the dragon's head, but to a Viking his size, it was like trying to push a boulder over rough terrain; impossible. It doesn't make sense! Why would Toothless risk stopping to specifically attack Oliver? All the man did was nurse him back to health after pulling him from the cav- oh.

"Toothless, if he hadn't taken me, I probably wouldn't be alive having this conversation with you!" Hiccup reasoned. His assumption was that, since Oliver was the one who carried him to the town, his scent must've been left behind and his over-protective dragon must've picked it up and thought he was the cause of all this.

The Night Fury did not budge an inch. His stare remained directly at Oliver in the same way he did moments ago, but the young Viking sensed a bit of uncertainty from his companion.

"He's not the enemy bud… He's the one who helped me get well." The teen said in a gentle, calm voice to not further agitate his already furious vengeance-seeking dragon.

Slight moments passed by before the dragon gave in to his rider's reasoning and dropped his grip. But as the man unsteadily rose to his feet, the dragon shot the man a life-threatening glare. In instinct, Oliver stumbled back, nearly falling back down onto the ground. "C-call off the beast-" A sudden growl emerged from the dragon, bringing out an apprehensive gasp from Ellen from the side. "Erm, T-toothless…"

The dragon did as told and waddled over beside Hiccup, before anxiously nudging at his arm. Toothless obviously felt an urgency to leave, being in such a dragon-despising town. He was indeed right too, but the young Viking knew that he needed something from these people first, and scaring them off was not exactly the best way of asking for help.

Hiccup leaned over and cupped his mouth towards his dragon's ear. "Just trust me bud." The young Viking whispered.

Toothless responded with a groan of annoyance.

Over onto the side, Mary and Ellen exchanged puzzled looks as Oliver regained his composition and attempted to brushed off his clothing nonchalantly, but to no luck. Every few seconds, the man's head shot up and glanced over at Toothless with suspicion.

"So how-"

"He's not my puppet master." Hiccup said blatantly, cutting off Ellen. "He doesn't have magic, he's just a plain old, regular dragon."

Upon hearing that he was just called ordinary, Toothless retorted with a loud, accusing snort.

"Fine, he's a rare and all powerful Night Fury." Hiccup said with a sharp, sarcastic overtone. Toothless, though knowing well of his rider's sarcastic tendencies, ignored it and held up his head high and proud with dignity, trying to live up to the description as being the 'offspring of lightening and death' itself.

Mary gazed at Hiccup with a strong hint of skepticism. Her usual vibrant demeanour had suddenly dropped into an uncharacteristically serious one. "But Tilgaurd said-"

"He doesn't understand." Hiccup interrupted once again. "Dragons aren't evil, they stole food because of the queen on their island. And now that she's gone, they've shown themselves on our island at not being bad at all!"

"Wait, are you telling me that the dragons, the beasts that have been attacking us for years, killing our men, stealing our food and ruining our crops that have left us in a state of famine, aren't all that bad?" Oliver asked incredulously.

"Yes, and in fact, they help us fish, hunt, and do other things in a way that would take a lot longer without them." Hiccup responded with a slight 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone.

The three family members stared at him, soaking in the shocking, if not belief shattering information that not only dragons are not 'all bad', but apparently, his people actually co-exist with them? "This is gibberish! Dragons can't be docile! Their instinct is to kill, maim! And raid our food!" Oliver began.

"Explain how the raids suddenly stopped."

No one had an answer.

"Now, I need to get myself and Toothless out of this town safely and away from Tilgaurd along with the rest of the town who want my dragon executed. To do this, I need my riding gear back."

"Now, wait just a second-" The man was about to start.

"Dad… " Ellen began. "It all makes sense, the reason why they'd stopped just suddenly. And think about it, wouldn't it be easier to hunt, fish, and trade _with_ dragons, instead of wasting men trying to kill them?"

Oliver glanced up for a second to consider, before sighing in defeat. "After the town meeting was adjourned, we saw the town blacksmith walking off with your, uh, saddle, towards his forge."

"We'll take you th-"

Mary was suddenly interrupted by an almost victorious roar of men, with the strength of volume high enough to seemingly reach every home in the town. Then, a boisterous clattering of feet started rattling against the dirt. With every passing second, the sound began to increase in volume as they neared closer and closer.

"Let's get them!" Could be heard faintly in the distance as the clattering got more and more audible. It was obvious to everyone that Tilgaurd was massing up an army as was approaching their way.

"Ellen, you go with Hiccup and show him towards the forge, we'll delay them for as long as possible!" Oliver urged.

"But dad, what about y-"

"No buts! Go!"

Hiccup quickly leapt onto his dragon and held his hand out for Ellen, who just stood staring at him with a look of uncertainty. "Come on, he's not going to hurt you." Hiccup assured. Without warning, a second, but much louder cheering of men shook the hesitation right out of Ellen as she grabbed Hiccup's hand and mounted onto Toothless. The last thing they saw were Mary and Oliver, running into the direction of the boisterous cheering just before Hiccup and Ellen disappeared into a wisp of black.

During the sprint, Hiccup turned his head back to check on Ellen, but to his disbelief, she wasn't screaming, nor clenching onto him like onto a branch during a fall. She was actually smiling brightly, with her eyes glimpsing to the sides to look at the rapidly scrolling by houses in wonder and amazement, oblivious to the screams of terror of townsfolk as the dragon ran down the streets.

"Umm, Ellen." Hiccup reminded.

"Hmm? Oh, oh yes! That way." She pointed.

As if on cue, Toothless sharply turned and bounded past another multitude of shops, before stopping directly at the entrance of a white, flat stone building with a large smokestack on the opposite end. The distinct, almost cobbley style chimney sent Hiccup immediately recognizing it as the one he saw when he initially explored the town.

The two jumped off and proceeded into the forge, where Hiccup peered a single eye in past the arch entrance. No sight of any person on the workbench, nor on the furnace. "Good, the blacksmith isn't here." His assumption was further proven after seeing how the coals on the furnace weren't slightly glowing dark red. As he stood over the furnace, he was mesmerized by how big the furnace was and imagined all the new applications into the area of gadgets and contraptions that were impossible to do back in Berk's forge. But soon, he had forced himself to ignored it due to the necessary speed that was needed. "Alright, look for something that looks kind of like a horse saddle, except it has two metal rings attached onto the side. And Toothless, stay out of sight."

The Night Fury obediently leapt on top of the forge, sending a few loose tiles tumbling down as he scrambled up behind the chimney.

"Is this it?" Ellen asked, pointing to a workbench.

Hiccup walked closer with a hope of excitement, before his smile fell into a frown to the realization that it was just saddle, with reins suited for a horse. "No, it's just a-AHH!" Hiccup yelled, slipping on a solitary grease spot. He flailed his arms for any object to grab onto and nullify his fall, but all he could manage was the top handle of the furnace lid. He and the lid fell to the ground with a unanimous 'thump.'

"You okay there?" Ellen asked, offering her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Hiccup responded, rubbing his back. "What's this for? The furnace has a front entrance for putting in coal, why would it need a top lid for?" The curious young Viking picked himself off the ground and peeked into the top of the furnace, where a thin veil of metal was weaved and hung above the coals. And on it, sure enough, was the saddle. "They were going to burn it?" Hiccup exclaimed in horror. The normally brown coloured saddle was now covered in black coal dust, and the pedals were slightly jammed with bits of coal stuck in the metal shaft.

"Hiccup! Hurry up and finish whatever you're doing!" Ellen urged with an expression of dismay as she looked outside from under the doorway. The young Viking inquisitively peered outside, and to his horror, it was the townsfolk. Hundreds of armed men marched down the street with some breaking from the side ranks and proceeded to the homes where they slammed open the house doors. There was no doubt of their intentions.

"Oh gods…" Hiccup uttered. The boy quickly spurred into action and snatched the saddle from the furnace before running for the exit. "Toothless, hurry! Meet me at back!"

With a croon of acknowledgement, the Night Fury leapt off the roof and onto grass with a thump. Hiccup sprinted past the rear door of the forge and towards his dragon, who readily crouched down low to help quicken the speed of mounting saddle. Paws through the loops, saddle on scales, buckles secured. It's perfect except for… the fin! "Agh!" Hiccup smacked his forehead in stupidity.

"What is it? Is the saddle broken?"

"No, its missing the fin! Did Tilgaurd take it?"

"What fin? There wasn't a mention of any fin…" Ellen answered earnestly.

Hiccup was in a frantic mess. Where was the fin? Without it, will they be stuck on this island forever? He remembered back, flashing to events, conversations, anything that could lead him to the fin. The meeting; no, there was no mention of a fin there, just the saddle. Think back farther. The Mary and Oliver's house? No, they didn't mention anything of the sort either. Where? The last place would be the… cave! Didn't Oliver and Mary mention something about a metal fish tail… Yes, That's it!

"The cave!" Hiccup exclaimed with a renewed sense of optimism. "Okay, Ellen, you need to stay here, its too difficult keeping you from falling off when Toothless is in full speed." Hiccup explained as he jumped on and secured the loops to the saddle.

Ellen crossed her arms in annoyance, feeling left out after once again, being denied of going with the person(s) she wanted to. "But- Fine…" She sighed.

"Alright, good bye Ell-"

"Wait! I almost forgot!" Ellen exclaimed, running up in front of Toothless and blocking their intended path. . "Dragons hate eels right? Well, that's what Tilgaurd said that had kept the dragons away, but anyways, there's a secret passage way around the eel line; its through the mountain. It's a cave that we used to play in as little children, so not that many people know about it. It's near the villager healer's home."

Eels! Hiccup mentally slapped himself once again. If they were chased by the village out of the town, there would be no doubt Toothless that would eventually run into the eel line and force them to stop, and ending the chase with them once again, captured. He couldn't believe he almost forgot! Hiccup back looked down at Ellen.

"Thanks Ellen, and tell your mom and dad the same as well." Hiccup expressed with extreme gratefulness. As he prepared to leave, he felt an almost remorseful feeling for what he had forced both Mary and Oliver to sacrifice to send him off safely when others just thought of him as a mind controlled puppet. So, with a final wave, Ellen stepped out of the way as Toothless bounded past at his fullest speed, more than ready to part from this hyper-aggressive human settlement.

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Short, short chapter, sorry! But I felt it to be a good part to leave off at.

I made up a new word. Its Cobbley. (Something similar to cobblestone, but in the form of an adjective.)Dang that's a lot of reviews! I love reading them, all your comments, criticism, praise, its all enjoyable to read. Thanks you, the reviewers, for helping me improve my writing so we all can enjoy its benefits.


	14. Chapter 14

Obligatory disclaimer: HTTYD, not mine.

Please review chapters! They help out a lot with pretty much everything.

I like to believe my writing style has changed, but what I don't really know if its for the better or worse; my usage of the thesaurus has dropped, so I wanted to ask you, the readers; Has my writing style changed from Chapter 1, and now? If it so, a change for the better or worse?

Also, I've written a Toothless 'meets-a-cat-and-cuteness-erupts one-shot story. It's meant to be a cute and humorous so, check it out. (Just click my name and look at the stories I have written)

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Chapter 14

Toothless bounded off, leaving Hiccup with a strong sense of gratitude for the family who had essentially helped an unknown stranger based solely off of goodwill. He immediately shook his head, snapping out of his reminiscing and back to the problem at hand; escaping. Ellen had specifically told him to use the cave as the route of escape, because of the way it crept past the eel line, but where was it? The mountain where she said it was dug through is humongous, and so must therefore, be the mountainside as well. Searching alongside it at their current speed would be a fairly efficient method, but it wouldn't exactly be the most _ideal_ choice for finding something that was possibly hidden with nothing to go on except for the vague description of it being 'a cave'. What about the healer's house she mentioned that was close by to it? He doubt he could ask anyone for directions without a sword being swung in his direction.

But wait, wasn't the healer the one who provided the herbs for his miraculous recovery? Her house must be filled with them to be entitled the village healer, and be given the reputation of the ability to cure almost every disease.

"Toothless, smell for something with a ton of different herbs." Hiccup told his dragon.

Toothless halted, rocks and gravel shooting out in every direction as they skidded to a stop. He twitched his snout while sniffing the air before looking back at his rider with a responding headshake. No luck. Too many other smells crowding out the one he was searching for.

Hiccup pondered for a second. "Try on top of the roof, maybe it you'll get a clearer scent."

The Night Fury glanced up for a split-second before leaping up and perching himself on a roof of a small home. The wood beneath groaned in protest. Down at street level, the young Viking noticed that people had already began to wander out of their homes and were crowding at the base of the house, some gawking with wonder, while others pointing and yelling obscenities.

"Come on bud, try your best!" Hiccup urged his dragon as he noticed people scrambling back indoors for weapons. Within that fraction of a second, the dragon's head snapped into a certain direction. Without a single doubt in the young Viking's mind, he knew his Night Fury had succeeded.

Hiccup smiled. "Let's go bud."

But just before they were off again, a whistle of air screeched past the young Viking's ear. An arrow whizzed off into the distance with an incredible speed. Hiccup's head instinctively snapped down in the fear losing yet another leg, but much to his relief, the limb remained fully intact. Then, as suddenly as they had stopped, they were off once again, with the sound of tiles clattering against the ground trailing behind as they bounded from roof-to-roof. Not a moment too soon either, Hiccup thought, peeking behind his back. Many other townsfolk had just returned below with their arrows notched and aimed directly at their heads, but luckily, they were just now out of their range. A sigh of relief emerged from Hiccup.

As they sprang from house to house, Hiccup noticed something different in the movement of his dragon. Uncharacteristically, the Night Fury seemed unbalanced, leaning ever so slightly to his left side. If this was any other person, they wouldn't notice this and just assume that it was just the Night Fury's natural gait, but, with the forging of their bond, it was just natural that they began be so accustomed to each other that even the smallest abnormalities would be immediately recognized. Hiccup could only hope that it wasn't anything too serious. His eyes wandered down, and he gasped in horror. Maybe they weren't so lucky after all… Where the arrow had passed just moments ago left a trickle of blood seeping from a graze on the dragon's front limb.

"Oh gods Toothless! You're injured!"

The dragon snorted plainly. He obviously wasn't going to let such a miniscule cut get in the way of both their safety. Hiccup on the other hand, wasn't feeling as confident about his dragon's judgement about his own condition as he was, but after second look at the cut made it seem a great deal less appalling. It was just a small cut, and he was probably worrying over nothing. Toothless's overprotective tendencies were starting to rub off on him, Hiccup thought to himself. He brushed it off his shoulder as probably nothing.

The houses began to be set further and further apart from each other as they got farther and farther from their starting point, indicating that they had begun near the edge of the village. But just before they actually met the cliffs of the mountain, Hiccup's attention was snatched by a certain house, a house that was blatantly different from all the homes in the town. Unlike all the others, this home seemed to be not only designed for the sole purpose of a shelter, but rather, it seemed to have an elegance of cosiness. As they got closer, he was able to make out coloured paints that decorated the roof, and the windows looked as though they were hand-crafted, with a pattern craved into the wood along its frame. Hiccup couldn't exactly point out the exact reason but it was… for a lack of a better word, 'homey'.

"There bud?"

The Night Fury was unresponsive for a second, but then grunted lightly. Toothless quickly designated a patch of land beside the house and neared it, rearing to touch-down, but, as his front limb had weight pushed onto it for the landing, the Night Fury stumbled forward, nearly sending Hiccup flying out of the saddle if not for the loops securing him down. Toothless's expression was heavily pained, but he managed to trudge on, using his healthy leg to pick up the slack.

"Toothless, you sure you're okay? We could stop and take a break."

Toothless just shook his head and kept moving alongside the house, still using the utmost caution to keep quiet. Hiccup became increasingly worried for his best friend. Perhaps the arrow damaged more than just a mere graze? The Night Fury's motion was starting to go unsteady, sending worse and worse doubts into the young Viking's mind. Maybe he's sick? Maybe the boy had overexerted his dragon, pushing him too hard… Guilt started to seep in at the possibility.

Toothless began to slow down, with each step taking longer than the last and with a limp, making it that much harder.

"Bud, what's wrong!"

Toothless ignored Hiccup and forced himself to pull a leg after another to keep going, grunts sounding after every step, forced out because of the prickling, burning pain that was travelling up his scaly limb. After a final, struggling step the Night Fury collapsed onto the ground, unconscious, unresponsive. Hiccup, in a state of panic, unbuckled and kneeled in front of his dragon, shaking him furiously in the hopeless attempt to snap him out of whatever that was going on.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, disregarding any further intention to keep stealthy. Nothing. No response. Just the heavy pants of his breathing. "No, no…"

This was definitely not 'nothing.'

"I see your companion has fallen asleep."

Hiccup looked up from the unexpected words and there, a few metres in front of them, was a meager old woman, peering at them with piercing grey eyes past the nearly white hair hanging at her sides in braids. She stood with a stoop, and a small bent stick was held firmly under her hand, keeping her balance steady. She stared at them with a solemn expression, displaying no fear, nor distain for the two.

"What?" Hiccup shot back, feeling almost insulted at what seemed to be a morbid joke at his dragon's expense.

"You see that cut there on the Night Fury's leg?" She pointed with a feeble hand. Hiccup didn't bother to look over, he already saw everything that he needed to.

The old woman continued. "See how the wound has a slightly different color than the surrounding?"

That caught the young Viking's concern. He turned to the area and realized that the blood surrounding the wound was actually a slight bit darker than a splotch of it that had streaked across the scales, presumably following the path of the arrow. But what was it? If it's not blood, according to the woman, it had to had come from the arro- Is it… oh gods no… Hiccup's eyes widened as he came to a sudden realization at what it was. It wasn't blood.

"It's poison."

That single, blunt word confirmed his worst fears and sent him into a spiral of horror. His eyes wandered back to his dragon's. He could still see pain in the dragon's expression, even while he was unconscious.

"Potent, fast, kills a man in less than a minute. Aye, created it myself."

Hiccup threw her a look of disbelief at what he was hearing. Is this woman blatantly explaining to him that she is the person who created this… this horrid substance that had sent his dragon into so much pain and agony and was now possibly going to kill him?

He shook his head slightly and said. "Who, who are you?"

"I am Eir, the village healer."

"So I guess even the village healer has turned into a cold, dark killer and still able to keep the title of a 'healer'."

The statement didn't seem to change her stance in anyway and she responded, indifferently as though she was expecting such a curt return. "You must understand, my boy, that creating a poison and actually using it on a living creature are two entirely different notions." The healer stood, shifting weight from one leg to the other. "I created the poison on the sole intention of keeping men alive, and for self-defence, if the situation should ever arise. But, how it is actually used is fully out of my control. If a blacksmith crafts a sword and it turns towards one of his countrymen, is the blacksmith to blame?"

Hiccup dropped his gaze. Yes, her argument was totally valid in that the creator of a weapon is not always in control of how it is used, but, regardless, she had a part in the poisoning of his Night Fury. His expression fell further grim upon looking back down at his fallen dragon.

"Now, now lad. On the contrary to what you have been through, the gods have actually bent fate in your favour on quite a few occasions."

Hiccup scoffed. Luck wasn't in their favour, it never was after landing here on this island… Both dragon and rider suffered injuries, and both were barely healed before new threats and new injuries were instilled. How could luck, and how could the will of the gods had ever come into play and still ended with this terrible outcome?

"You know, if Mary and Oliver hadn't found you, you probably would've been dead within a couple of days. A stroke of luck and pure chance they said."

The young Viking had already known that it was fairly, no, more so a complete fluke for him to be found in the wilderness by two couples that just happened to be strolling through. It doesn't matter though. The luck ran out here-

"And, this coming from a healer who practiced for nearly two generations, every poison has a cure. And, there is still time."

Hiccup's head was lifted by a new light of hope, and he met with the healer's eyes. She responded with a warm smile.

"Your Night Fury is not a mere human. The poison will take a lengthier time to take its full toll than if it were actually in you. You should be thankful." She gave Hiccup a deep, and possibly even accusing stare. The young Viking avoided eye contact out of new, and unexplained guilt. When he brought up the courage to look back up, the healer had disappeared, leaving Hiccup once again, alone with his thoughts, and an unconscious Night Fury at his side.

A small gleam caught the corner of his eye, bringing his attention to the muzzle that was still attached to Toothless's snout. Probably best to get it off, Hiccup thought, not knowing of a better way to aid his dragon. He reached over and tugged on the metal rim that looped around the dragon's neck, of which provided the bonding strength for the whole contraption. On closer examination, the young Viking noticed how the lock was not as tightly secured as he would've expected a dragon constraining muzzle to be. It rattled upon being shaken and it had a little bit of give as though one of the bolts had been damaged. Although saying so, the muzzle was still too tightly fixed for him to break it by brute force. But even if he should attempt to pull on the muzzle with his whole weight, it would probably do more harm to Toothless than good. Hiccup sighed in exasperation. An idea popped into his mind. His hand found its way around his coat, and leggings, furiously patting down every possible compartment.

"Come on knife, where'd I put it?" He checked every pocket, every pouch, and even his belt but nothing of the sort. He groaned in his stupidity. Again, another potentially valuable item was left back at the lake.

Suddenly, an aged hand appeared in of the young Viking's face, held openly to show its hold. On the palm was a small pile of what seemed to be sand mixed with crushed leaves.

"Take this and rub it onto the wound. The mix will go into the bloodstream and nullify the poison."

Should he trust her? After all, she is a member of this village, the village that had caged him up, and not to mention, viciously wanting to kill his Night Fury on a ridiculous claim. But then again, she was the one who sent the herbal drink that had done so well to heal him…

Reluctantly, Hiccup held out his hand underneath hers and the pile began to fall downwards like water, through the opening slits between her fingers. Grain by grain, and leaf by leaf drained down, before the last bit fell into the palm of his hand, prompting him to clamp his hand shut, as though it was some rare ancient treasure. Hiccup leaned over to the Night Fury's injured limb, and slowly brought his hand closer and closer to the wound, using extensive care to not lose a single, vital, grain.

His hand stopped just below the wound, before he abruptly flipped it, smothering the mix onto the bloody graze. As he started to rub, the pile started to feel less and less present, while none of it actually fell onto the ground. The last grain and leaf dissolved, and the young Viking pulled back his hand. Hiccup glanced down and immediately felt queasy at the sight of the unmistakable red stain of his Night Fury's blood that was soaked onto his palm. The silence grew, and no body shifted. He prayed, prayed that this would work, and that this remedy wouldn't just further harm his dragon. Perhaps the teen was too late? Perhaps he should've immediately asked her for help, instead of questioning her motive-

A muscle twitched. Hiccup's eyes trained onto the spot, making sure he wasn't seeing things. He held his breath as his heart boomed at a boisterous volume in his ear. All at once, the black mass started to shift and groan before two large green eyes opened, staring at him from the front.

"Howya feeling bud?" The young Viking managed to say, unable to expression his relief in any other fashion.

The Night Fury groaned as he moved his injured paw timidly, seeming to expect that it would emanate pain. The dragon's eyes widened in curiosity as he tested the limb further, then realized that miraculously, the searing pain that had brought him down just minutes ago was gone. Toothless quickly got onto his feet, and wiggled his injured leg.

Hiccup patted the dragon's neck. "Better huh?"

Toothless responded with a nuzzle, burying his nose under the boy's arm.

"Alright now Toothless." Hiccup laughed, giving the Night Fury a scratch on the side of his head. "Come on bud, we've gotta go-"

"You're not going anywhere." The woman stood in front of the two, except this time showing a bit more assertion in her demeanour. "Not at least until this boy has his cuts properly cared for."

Toothless, now just realizing that there was actually a third party in their presence, snarled and paced forward, bringing Hiccup along from under his arm.

"Whoa there bud, she's the one who help me _and_ you get better." Hiccup said, pushing against the dragon's snout in order to keep him from clawing down the old woman.

The dragon was not convinced. In his eyes, this aged human could not be trusted and was deemed a threat, as would most of the villagers by now.

"Toothless…" Hiccup warned in a rising voice. "Remember, she provided the substance that made your leg better." This seemed to pacify the Night Fury slightly, but he was not one to be caught off guard.

Toothless stepped back, but at the same time still keeping his eyes trained on the woman. The healer nodded towards the rear of the house, and started walking off. As they followed, Toothless jogged up in front of Hiccup, nearly shoving him out of the way to forcefully create a barrier between his rider and this woman whom he had no trust for. Hiccup sighed in annoyance at his overprotective dragon.

The inside of the house was no different than the exterior, it wasn't just barren walls as he'd in the village, or more specifically, Ellen's home; it had paints, decorations, and other things placed with the intention to give the house a more warm feeling. The healer lead them into a main room, where a lit center fireplace was bordered by a short wall of stones.

"Sit down here, on this stool." The woman gestured.

Hiccup compliantly sat down, and the dragon settled close beside, clearly still keen on keeping a watchful eye over this new environment. The aged woman again, left the room and quickly after returned with a wooden board. Resting on it was a jar, a rag, and a small bowl with a lid covering. She hobbled over to the young Viking, and placed the tray on a second stool beside him. She held up the rag and dipped it in the jar, before dabbing it around the cut on Hiccup's forehead. The young Viking yelped from the stinging of the rag touching the wound. The Night Fury stood solemnly beside, on edge. The healer then washed away the last dried smudge of blood and she went on to picking up the bowl.

"You must be starving lad, here, have something to eat."

Hiccup was about to politely decline the offer, but just then, his stomach rumbled, causing him to reconsider. He quickly decided that the temptation of hunger was too much, and he diligently took hold of the bowl. The young Viking carefully lifted up the lid and inside, he recognized as some kind of broth, with chunks of meat and vegetables floating about. The smell was positively uplifting. Carefully chosen herbs were emanating their scent, along with the sizable chunks of meat, looking as enticing as nothing he'd ever seen before. The young Viking brought the bowl closer to his mouth, and with a wooden spoon handed to him by the healer, he eagerly ate, savouring every bit of the exquisite soup. The taste was in no way, contrary to the smell.

Spoon by spoon, chunk by chunk, the broth was quickly gobbled down by the young Viking. He returned the woman her wooden bowl and gave his customary 'thank you'. The old woman bowed slightly on recognition and left for the kitchen. She promptly returned, and although without the board, she came back instead with a gleaming knife held loosely in her hand. Toothless caught sight of this and bounded up from his sitting position, confronting the woman with an angry growl.

"Take this, and try to pick the lock with the end." The woman said to Hiccup while ignoring the snarling Night Fury in front. "Normally I would, but your Night Fury here doesn't seem to take foreign people too kindly."

The young Viking grasped the knife and examined it, before looking back up at the aged woman. "Why are you helping us?"

"Viking history has always depicted the dragons as their sworn enemies, simply by the act of nature. And as a young lass, I believed it. Times then were like now, rough, famines popped up here and there, and of course, the usual burning of houses. Surely people began to develop a burning hatred for them. It's a perfectly expected response."

"But what does that have to do-"

"Shush, I'm not finished." The healer continued. "As a young lass, my mother and father told me dozens of stories of how Vikings valiantly fought to save our town from starvation. How generations of Vikings were sent out into the sea, hoping to end the pain and suffering once and for all. But alas, no one ever succeeded."

Hiccup shifted in his stool. He could sense how this story was going to end. It felt as though he was going to get caught and this was just to rile him up for it.

"But, one day, during a raid, I was out in the woods, gathering herbs for medicine when I heard a squawking coming from the bushes. It wasn't the squawking of a bird, it sounded more helpless, saddened even. So I walked up to a bush, pushed away a few loose branches and there in the center, was a little green dragon. A Terrible Terror as its called."

A wash of relief ran through him, but he didn't move, doing his best to hide it.

The woman's expression started to saddened to the thought, as though something was sending her a feeling of dread as the events were recalled. But she swallowed and moved on. "Naturally, I leapt back in fear, afraid that it would attack me as they were said to do so. But, as I got closer, I noticed how the poor thing had its legs trapped in a root. I didn't know what to do. It was a dragon, the sworn enemy of Vikings, but in my eyes, it was just a poor helpless animal. So I reached in, and gently pulled him out. The thing was like the size of my palm, quite small for a Terror I thought. But, as soon as it realized what I had done for it, it cooed, rubbing its head against my chest. Quickly later, it turned away, assumingly wanting to go home. So I threw it up and on its way, but, it fell right back down. I ran towards it and then I nearly cried at the sight. The poor dragon had only half its wing with nothing left on the other but a tiny stump. It kept trying to leap up and fly, but it never could. I felt so much pity for it, and being a healer whose life's purpose is to make people feel better, I had no reason not to. So I brought him home, keeping him for months by feeding him table scraps along with vegetables I bought from the market. He was like family to me."

"But one day, the chief unexpectedly visited my home. At the time, my mother and father were on a peacekeeping trip to another tribe so I had been put in charge of the village healing. I heard him come up the stairs so quickly I hid the Terror under a pile of bed sheets. The man came to ask about his dying brother, and if anything could be done. But he stopped mid-sentence as he noticed a little green snout, sticking out of the pile. He ripped the bed sheets off and there it was. A dragon, sleeping soundly on my bed. I always assumed that everyone would be furious upon learning that I was hiding and feeding a dragon. And I was right. The man was furious. But what I never could've foreseen is how he'd taken it to the arena and according to the guards, he killed it. He pulled out his sword and slit it's throat in cold blood."

This made Hiccup's skin crawl, but, this made him wonder. What if his own father had found Toothless before he did? Would he have given his Night Fury the same fate? Hiccup felt sickened at the thought. "But wait, how come you didn't try to reason with him?"

"He never bothered to ask 'what is _it_ doing there.' No, stared at me for a second before grabbing the little terror by the head and walked off. Later, I was confined to my room for a week and was retold how dragons were horrible, emotion exploiting monsters over and over. Never after that week, did I ever speak of the Terror again. If only I could've told them, and not been such a coward…" The aged woman sat down on the stool and sighed in exhaustion. "When your dragon was ordered to be executed in the arena during the town meeting, I saw the look you gave your Night Fury. I saw a deep bond between you two so I assumed you had figured out the same thing I did, that dragons were not all monsters."

"Is that why you helped us? So we could change your village?"

"No. This village's state of mind cannot be altered, no matter how hard you try. They've seen many hardships my boy, and their anger and hatred cannot be moved by a simple explanation. All the other villages as well for that matter. Now, what I wanted to accomplish by aiding you is to prevent, prevent another killing of a possibly, kind, and intelligent soul with the potential for empathy that could very well match our own. So take this knife, get rid of that horrible contraption and be on your way."

The young Viking had always thought that he was the first to befriend a dragon and realise their potential for loyalty and care. But the more he thought, the more it began to soak in. Dragons didn't just turn benevolent around him, they always were, most likely as a part of their innate instincts. Although he wasn't the first to realise this hidden trait, he was still the first to change an entire society, for the better with this knowledge. Hiccup stood up and turned to Toothless, holding the knife close to the lock. He twisted it slightly around the keyhole, but with no luck. He tilted the steel knife by a slight degree and a click sounded, before the whole contraption fell to the ground with an incredibly loud thang. That did the trick.

Toothless, now overjoyed that he was now freed from the confinements of a muzzle, nudged his head against the boy's chest, lapping at his face with happiness.

"What is your name lad?"

Hiccup wasn't expecting that question, but he guessed that at least she was able to be trusted. The young Viking pushed the eager lack snout away. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

"Haddock? Son of Stoic, the chief of Berk?"

"Yep, that's my dad."

"Ah, I remember him. Been on a trading run to Berk a couple of years ago. Fine man, but when speaking of dragons, one does not want to get in his way." She laughed. "So how is Stoic these days, unknowing that his son is hiding a Night Fury behind his back."

"Toothles- Toothless, stop. Well, everything's alright now and Berk has come to like the-" Hiccup stopped, just now realizing what he had just revealed. Toothless stepped. The woman gave Hiccup an incredulous stare. "What do you mean?" She said a stern voice.

"Erm… Did I say alright? Well I meant…" Hiccup stopped. Should he tell her? What's the worst that could come of that? She's already realised how dragons could be pacified… "Well, our village has… Accepted, the dragons and we now… Work together to gather food and do, uh chores." Hiccup awkwardly began.

Hiccup opened his mouth and was about to resume explaining, until an odd sound caught his ear. It was quiet, an almost, murmuring sound, but it was there. Toothless' ear flap twitched in the direction of the sound. Clearly, it was not just the young Viking who was hearing it. The sound gradually got louder until voices could be picked out from the murmuring. The old woman stood up and made her way towards the front door window, where she glanced out. Without taking a single glance back, she said "Go they're coming. And if your intentions are to leave town, use the tunnel. It was dug out through the mountain ahead in the search for ore, but now its seldom remembered by anyone. The entrance is probably covered by undergrowth, but there's still the chance that the sign still remains to mark it. It would be your best bet if your intentions are to leave this town unharmed."

"Wait, how do you know about the cave? Aren't children the only ones who knew about it?"

"I was once too, an innocent, carefree child. Now go."

Hiccup didn't need more encouragement. The young Viking rushed to the door along with his Night Fury and scrambled to jump on. Hiccup looped the rings to the saddle, and snapped his prosthetic into place. And with a final tap on the dragon's neck, the two disappeared in a flash of black and brown. The young Viking couldn't help but look back in curiosity. The healer was standing beside her back door, looking at them as she usually did, calm, neutral. But in her eyes, he could see something different, something that wasn't previously there.

Hope.

* * *

5,000 words, wow. Well, it needed to be done. Things needed to be said and events needed to have taken place.

And after a month of a long-awaited update, I hope this was worth it. So please review and answer the question above; my writing style. Has it changed? Yes, no? If so, for the better or worse. (I don't care if its criticism. Criticism is important for a writer, whether negative or positive.)


	15. Chapter 15

Synergy: May be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.

Arguably, the best word to describe the relationship between Hiccup and Toothless.

As usual, please review this chapter, it heavily motivates me and it gives me a good sense of how you feel the plot or how my writing is. So, please review, it doesn't take long yet it yields so many benefits.

Oh yeah, in this story, I imagined Hiccup as 14-15, just for reference.

Chapter 15:

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"There they ar'! Get 'em!" Cried a voice from the approaching swarm of outraged villagers. Bows and spears were raised, and the townsfolk wielding them took aim.

Hiccup glanced back. He knew what was coming. He did _not _want his dragon to be hit with another arrow. Hiccup closed his eyes and listened, ignoring the bustle of the grass under his dragon's feet, the wind, everything. The single, tell-tale sound. The strumming of a bowstring…

There.

Hiccup's eyes snapped open. "Jump bud!" At that exact second, the Night Fury leapt up at an incredible height, and the two looked down as the arrows below harmlessly passed by. At the apex of their jump, Toothless spun until they were facing the crowd. A quick collection of gas and a blue fireball discharged from the dragon's mouth. Villagers screamed as they dove out of Night Fury's attack. A dazzling explosion of blue and orange erupted from a newly formed crater just in front of where the mob previously stood. The Night Fury had missed the crowd entirely.

The young Viking knew his dragon's reputation of being the marksman that he is and this was not an exception of his ability. Though the attack had not managed to hit a single person, it was still aimed with perfect precision, thought Hiccup. Far enough to not harm anybody, yet close enough for them to break their ranks and fall into a bought of chaos. Hiccup hated these people, but at the same time, he didn't want to harm any one of them. They were just… misinformed, he reasoned. The dragon had clearly sensed this and respected his rider's morals, despite how he disagreed with it in every aspect.

The two spun back forward and touched back down onto land, resuming their beeline for the mountain.

"Left or right bud?" Hiccup asked his dragon. Toothless snorted, leaving the all important decision entirely up to the young Viking. The mountain was nearing fast and a decision was needed.

"Umm… Left."

Toothless began sharply turning into a half-arc before- "No, right!" Hiccup indecisively second-guessed. The dragon groaned and veered in the other direction.

"Slow down a bit bud, it's hard to see anything in detail at this speed."

Toothless did just that. The dragon dropped his speed down to a more jog-like pace as he ran parallel to the mountainside. The mountainside wasn't a gradual slope with rolling foothills here and there as he would've liked for spotting a possibly hidden object. Instead, it was a sharp incline that led up to a high apex, a point where it would hurt to even try to glance up that steep of an angle. Bushes and undergrowth littered the slope, and bordered where they tread. Hiccup hoped that his 'luck' as the healer called, still held. Who knows where the cave was, it could even be higher up the mountain than where he was presently travelling along, or even worse, it could be in the other direction altogether! The young Viking kept his eyes open, searching for even the smallest indication of a cave.

Hiccup's eyes caught a gleam of light on scales as his dragon's ear flap twitched. "Hear something bud?"

The young Viking listened closely, and he heard something odd too. It was somewhat off in the distance, quiet, but was still able to be heard and distinguished from the rustle of grass below. It was actually coming from behind them.

"Toothless, stop for a moment."

The dragon diligently obeyed and swung to his side, slowing the two into a halt almost immediately.

Hiccup went further into analyzing the curious sound. It was almost a chirping sound, high-pitched, sounding… enthusiastic to say the least. Laughter, Hiccup realised. Perhaps it was the villagers, attempting to head them off? No, that wouldn't be possible; how would they know they would go in this direction? And plus, why would they be laughing when their goal is to hunt and kill an 'evil' dragon that has 'mind-controlled' an innocent person? And it _was _rather high-pitched to be fully grown Vikings guffawing. Children maybe? Or possibly kids his age who knew about the cave, as Ellen told him, and were playing in it? A flimsy hope, Hiccup realised, but its all he's got.

"Follow that sound bud."

A grunt of acknowledgement from the Night Fury before he leapt into the opposite direction and flew off in a flash of black. The laughter had ceased, but the Night Fury still kept the general direction of the sound embedded solidly into his mind, enabling him to keep a bee-line heading.

Hiccup's hopes were brutally dashed as the dragon began veering off the side of the mountain and back into the town. This area wasn't as populated with houses as before back at the Elder's home, because just a hundred meters or so down in the other direction marked the end of the settlement. They were actually well on the farthest outskirts of town, noted Hiccup.

But, maybe these people haven't heard the news about him, seeing how they're so far from everything…? It's worth a shot. But if things turn sour, well, there's always Toothless.

The dragon halted behind a small home, with a whoosh of air marking their stop. Still curious as to who was creating the sound, the young Viking quietly dismounted and crept along the wall and to the corner of the house where he stopped to face his dragon, raising a finger to his lips, and whispering a reticent 'shhhhhh.' Hiccup leaned over and poked past the edge with a single eye. The laughter was definitely not from adults he saw; it was actually a small group of adolescents all approximately his age, playing in the grass, jumping around, and tackling each other.

"Toothless, stay here." Hiccup whispered.

The young Viking walked as nonchalantly as possible around the corner, approaching the group. His approach was gradually noticed by the youth, and one-by-one, the activities of the bunch began to cease, with more and more odd stares being aimed directly at the young Viking.

"Umm… Do any of you know something about a tunnel?" Hiccup started.

Blank stares.

"Erm, sorry… My name is Hiccup, and I came here on… A trading ship from Berk…" Hiccup cringed slightly upon the realization of what he just said, mentally slapping himself for saying the name of his home, despite knowing perfectly well how his father still wanted it kept as a secret. He continued. "And I heard that there was a cave-"

"What's that for?" One in the group interrupted, walking forward and pulling on the metal loops that extended below his coat.

"It's um, for training."

In the corner of his eye just off the far edge of the building, Hiccup noticed a set of large green dragon eyes peering at him curiously. Thinking quickly, he placed his hand on the wall of the house and leaned on it, rubbing his leg and pretending that his prosthetic was simply, 'flaring up' in the attempt to hide Toothless for as long as possible.

"So how'd you leg?" Another asked, gesturing to Hiccup's prosthetic.

"I killed a dragon." Hiccup replied plainly. Although this was a fairly vague response, it was still more information than he would've liked to have given to these strangers.

The group began crowding closer to the young Viking, oohing and aahing in admiration and respect for what appeared to be to them, an impressive feat.

The shorter of the bunch walked forward, crossing his arms and displaying a look of high pride. "When the dragons dare to show their ugly, putrid faces back here, I'm going to kill them all! Slaying dragons left and right, that's what I do!" He said, wildly waving a stick around for added effect.

A girl scoffed. "As if! All you do is cause trouble!"

"Can't even lift an axe." Another added, sending the group into a jeering bout of laughter. The youth's pride deflated like an air sac, and he stepped back, dropping his gaze.

Hiccup felt unusually empathetic for this particular person.

"So what kind of dragon did you kill? A Gronkle? A Timberjack?" One of the girl asked, giddy with interest.

"Uhm…"

"A Terrible Terror? A Night Fury?"

"Yes, Yes! A Night Fury." Hiccup answered absentmindedly. A low-pitch groan entered his ears, coming from behind.

Apprehensive, Hiccup quickly scanned the group's expressions, and much to his relief, no one had noticed the groan because, now, their previous looks of admiration and awe began turning into the assertive expression of suspicion and incredulousness.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. I've seen grown Vikings twice the size of you fall to a Nadder, and you say you've killed a Night Fury? No offence kid, but you're kind of scrawny…"

"Well obviously, I didn't do it purely by hand. I built this contraption you see…" Hiccup's eyes wandered over and met with the outcasted teen. The youth shot him an odd look crossed somewhere between curiosity and intense absorption to what the young Viking, as though the thing he was explaining could be replicated in some way to be life-changing.

Hiccup glanced around and saw puzzled expressions. He realised that he'd just lost his train of thought.

"Where was I…? Oh yes, the uh, contraption. It fired a bola directly at the Night Fury while it was flying… Bringing him down, where I killed it by slitting his- I mean _its_ throat! Because you know, dragons are obvious 'its' and not people…" Hiccup awkwardly went on.

"What about your leg?" Another asked with a clear tone of cynicism.

"Hm? Oh, yes! The leg… Uh, when I was about to kill… It, it struggled and managed to swipe at my leg before I tumbled forward and got a swipe at it… With my knife." Hiccup felt a little guilty for envisioning himself killing his dragon…

A few of the youth shrugged, feeling satisfied with his story, but others not so much. The largest of the bunch stepped forward and slung his arm around Hiccup's shoulder. The young Viking bent forward under the new unexpected weight. "He's cool guys. I mean, come on, that's like the awesomest battle-scar ever. How else would someone get something like that? You can still even see the claw-marks on his leg!"

Hiccup instinctively looked down and saw the scratches he got from Toothless from back in the woods. Hiccup forced out a few chuckles.

The larger youth turned back to Hiccup. "Come on, we'll show you the cave." He took his arm off, and started walking off, with the rest of the group following suit. One or two nodded to Hiccup as they passed by, while others gave him the expected look of suspicion.

"Are you coming or not?" The larger Viking asked.

"My leg is acting up. You know… Fake limbs and such..." Hiccup leaned on the wall with one hand while crossing his bad leg, resting the prosthetic on the other. "I'll catch up with you in a second!"

The larger Viking shrugged and walked off. The final youth, the ridiculed one, ambled by and looked at Hiccup inquisitively before picking up his pace and catching up to the rest.

In his mind, Hiccup was smiling brightly with glee. Maybe this might actually work.

* * *

This chapter was really short, I'm sorry, but I'm kind of out of time. The day I publish this is the day I'm leaving on vacation for six weeks. Sorry guys. I'll try my best to write things there on my pad, but nothing is guaranteed.

So, keep hopeful as I am not dead as _some_ may believe out of habit. If you haven't done so, also read my one-shot. It's about Toothless meeting a cat under odd circumstances. And remember, PLEASE review. Helps out a lot.

**…**

**What, why are you still here? Fine. Here is some bonus stuff to keep you happy until I get back.**

* * *

Soft bouts of sobbing rung through the Night Fury's ears, as Hiccup slowly approached the Night Fury, slouched forward with one hand held up over his eyes. The young Viking unexpectedly stopped, before dropping onto his knees, snivelling, and sniffling while drops of tears dripped from his hand and falling to the cold, hard ground.

The Night Fury saw this horrible show of despondency and trotted over, nudging at his rider soothingly.

No response.

Not being one to give up on his rider, Toothless came closer and laid down around the young Viking. He placed his tail around the front of Hiccup, bringing him in closer in the effort to pacify his sadness. The Night Fury could almost see, and fully feel the degree of melancholy and sorrow his rider was clearly showing, and… It saddened him.

The dragon laid his head near the boy's shoulder, crooning and rubbing at his arm with much affection. The sniffles and sobbing began to simmer down, as Hiccup turned to face Toothless with bloodshot eyes.

A soft, un-Hiccupy voice was the result. "Dad… Dad passed away…"

Hiccup dropped his gaze and tears started flowing again. Toothless brought the boy closer and shielded him under his wing, effectively placing him a safe-zone where he could let all his emotions come out without the fear of judgement, nor the horrendous realization that some things couldn't be fixed with the simple use of a hammer and molten metal.

_-A gift for those who actually read my senseless ramblings that are so-called the 'author's notes.'_


	16. Chapter 16

I know I gave a… Uhm, loose promise that I would at least, attempt to write on my holiday, but almost all intentions to honour that promise ended up with me staring at my pen for an hour before eventually calling it a night.

Insert Obligatory Disclaimer Here

Nevertheless, here's chapter 16.

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Once realising that the adolescents were well out of earshot, Hiccup slowly began backing up behind the cover of the house. Now, how would this work? Hiccup wondered. If he was led through the cave by the others, how would Toothless follo- Hiccup froze. There was something prodding against his back. From what he could feel, the end was small, but blunt? He couldn't tell for sure. The end of a spear…? He brought a hesitant hand back in the attempt to reveal the identity the unknown object. A warm puff of hot air streamed over the contours of his hand. Hiccup froze as the object began to slide across his back before coming to a rest on the palm of his hand. Hiccup heaved a sigh of relief.

"Toothless! You gotta stop sneaking up on me like that… You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The Night Fury rubbed his snout on the young Viking's back, crooning in apology. Hiccup's anger quickly dissipated and he turned around to give his dragon a quick scratch behind his ear. He knew he could never get angry at Toothless, especially when he's acting so damn cute and affectionate.

The dragon purred.

Hiccup sighed. "Alright. I'm going to go with them, so just follow me and keep out of sight."

An emphasis on 'out of sight.'

"We're not getting any younger here!" A voiced screamed in distance.

The young Viking peered past the corner where a distinct figure was eagerly waving at him from the top of a nearby foothill. Hiccup was about to get going but his left arm was gripped and jerked backwards, sending him stumbling to regain balance. He glanced back and on his left sleeve was, of course, Toothless, with his teeth showing and clamped firmly with a clear intent.

The Night Fury shot him an anxious look.

Hiccup let out a second sigh. "It's just like Mary and Oliver; we need them."

The dragon snorted.

He was starting to get irritated. "Okay, how about this. If you see me in any kind of life-threatening danger, you can get in there, ignoring the importance of stealth and pull me out. Sounds good?"

The dragon gazed off into space consider the deal before shrugging in agreement. A flash of black and the Night Fury was already back on the roof, the only trace of him being the two enormous green eyes that were watchfully observing him.

Around the corner came to him yet another, but an even more impatient wave from one of the village youths. Hiccup stepped forward with a normal every-person step, before immediately changing into limping gait, mimicking what walking motion he had seen from Gobber with the mentality that he was supposed to be having a 'hard time' with his prosthetic.

While hobbling his way towards the others, he looked back in retrospect of having said what he had agreed to his Night Fury. Disquieting thoughts and doubts began propagating in his mind. What would constitute for a life-threatening danger in the eyes of his dragon? A single mouse squeaking at his foot would probably result in a thousand pound Night Fury bounding out of the nearest shade of cover to protect his rider from the immediate 'threat'. But, Toothless was clearly smarter than that right…? Thinking back to the time when that incident actually happened made his stomach churn.

"You know, I've seen people who've lost _both _legs limp faster than you." The largest youth said bluntly.

"Sorry, sorry. Won't happen again!" Hiccup shifted uncomfortably, purposely placing more weight on the right side of his body to seem as though he needed to favour his good leg to stand.

The bigger Viking rolled his eyes at Hiccup before stomping off, grumbling under his breath.

"Ah, don't mind him. He just hates waiting. Especially on other people" One of the guys came up beside him. He had pale grey eyes with a single rope of braided hair hanging from the back of his head. The auburn teen stuck out his hand. "We haven't properly met; Viccus is your na-"

"Hiccup."

"Hiccup, sorry. Well, mine is Kase, and the big guy over there who I'm sure you'll easily remember is Greft."

Hiccup accepted the pleasantry and returned the other boy's handshake. As soon as their hands parted, a lanky blond girl sprung up in front of the him with an overly enthusiastic smile stamped on her face. "Hello Hiccup!"

Hiccup yelped and stepped back in complete alarm.

"Sorry I scared you. My name's Kayta, how are you?"

"Umm, Good…?"

"I heard you said you're a dragon slayer, mind telling me your tricks and secrets? " Kayta said, grinning brightly.

"I don't know anything about that…"

"Please?"

Her seemingly unbreakable smile dug into Hiccup until he broke eye contact, letting his gaze fall upon some of the other male teens who purposely distanced themselves from him. They returned his glance with a hateful glare before turning off and following Greft.

"You might want to get a move on Hiccup, before everyone else leaves you behind!" The upbeat lass snapped Hiccup's attention forward. "You can tell me those secrets later." She then turned, jogging off for the majority of the group.

The young Viking again noticed the loner, standing nearby with his head tilted upwards and attention dreamily fixed on the puffy white clouds that strolled by on the orangey background.

"So, what's his name?" The young Viking asked, curiously.

"Oh him? That's Davin. Nice guy he is, but the others never really seemed to warm up to him." Kase said, looking little perturbed when mentioning Davin. Almost looking… pitiful. The expression was quickly swept away and a well-meant smile was put on instead. "Well, come on Hiccup, let's get going before we lose sight of the others in the dark."

Kase's mentioning of the darkening sky made the young Viking wonder about his Night Fury, and how long before his stealth would be uncovered. But looking around, he noticed how the fine details of nearby and distant vegetation were progressively blurring, and up above, how the stars were already beginning to shine past the dimming light of the evening sky. Nothing to worry about, he thought. Toothless will have no problems concealing himself. He himself would probably be invisible if he just stood behind a bush.

From within a close distance to rest of the adolescents, Hiccup noticed a distinct silhouette, standing like a statue atop a foothill. The tall, plump outline was Greft, and he appeared to be facing them. "Hmm. It's not like Greft to be standing around waiting this many times." Kase mused. Though they closed the gap to the larger boy, Greft's attention didn't shift an inch. His blank expression was still focused in the direction of where they just came. The other teens seemed to be preoccupied in the same way as well. In intense curiosity, Hiccup turned around.

His heart skipped a beat.

A massive ball of light shone in the distance and in the ball of light, Hiccup could make out tiny specs that were going forward in a three file line, staying on the edge of the town. All bearing clearly visible torches in one hand, and long poles that could've either been bows or spears in the other. Hiccup's head pounded with apprehension. Would the group decide to go back or would they begin to suspect that the mob was somehow linked with hi-

"Eh, probably just another dragon hunt." One said, breaking Hiccup's train of thought.

"Yeah, they're probably just chasing some poor old woman's cat that had some guy stick trimmed leaves onto it." Greft joked.

A teen came up to him, looking a little unsettled. "But, should we go back and see what's going on?"

The large Viking scoffed. "Four months. Four months of the same old, smashing through doors, breaking shop displays, and raiding homes just to find a dragon that doesn't even probably exist. Sure it was fun at first, but after all the shop keepers stopped selling you goods, it kind of made you rethink."

"Onwards then."

A burst of relief went through Hiccup. All of a sudden, a hand bumped the back of his shoulder, pushing him forward. It was Kase. "For a dragon killer, you seem to be awfully slow." The teen playfully joked.

Hiccup could feel the piercing green eyes watchfully observing him through the bushes. He sure hoped Toothless could contain himself for just long enough so they could show him the caves. But the Night Fury was fuming, Hiccup could assure that.

The murky skylight surely was a benefit for his Night Fury in the regards to stealth, but it wasn't that amazingly great for his leg. More often than not, Hiccup failed to see the various rocks that jutted out of the ground and this usually resulted in him sprawling to not fall flat on his face. This was made even worse as they entered the thick cover of the forest canopy. If he brought his arm up, his hand would probably look like a barely visibly blurry grey mess. Amazing how the others manage their way around, Hiccup thought.

The young Vikings went on, with the chirps of crickets, the rustling of leaves, and the ambience of the wind overhead acting as their entertainment. This went on for quite some time before Greft suddenly halted, as followed by everyone else. He stepped forward, letting out a sigh and propping his fists on his hips. "Well, here we are."

A massive, nearly vertical rock face stood in front.

Hiccup scanned around and all he could see was the solid wall of rock, many trees, and clusters of undergrowth popping up on the base of rocks and slithering up the mountainside. No entrance. "Uh. Are you sure this is where we're suppose to be?"

Greft overlooked the comment and turned to face the cliff. A thick layer of vines and growth laid on the rock face, effectively creating a wall of green with miniscule spots of grey peaking through. "Been quite a while since the last time we came here." The larger Viking dug his nails in and swept apart the wall of overhang, revealing a pitch black opening. Clearly finding no fear in such a place, he nodded to Hiccup along with everyone else before stepping in. The others followed suit with Hiccup trailing behind.

The first step the young Viking took onto the stony floor with his prosthetic shot a ricochet of sound, bouncing throughout the passage, cutting past the drips and patters and back in the form of an eerie whine. Subsequently behind came a whispering ambience. His hand trailed the sides of the cavern, trying to at least have a guess at what direction he was going. But within a few steps, the wall took a sharp turn away from the noise of the others and Hiccup decided instead, to use the shuffling of feet as his guide, rather than the physical feel of the wall, lest he venture off and get lost in the potentially winding cavern.

The young Viking drew his focus downwards, using what little light in addition to the noise to not trip and impale himself on the uneven surface.

The light flickered as a whoosh of air spat into the cave. Everyone spun around, hearts beating and breathing rapid.

"Davin is that you?"

"No, I'm right here."

A morbid chuckle was forced out from Greft. "Just a bird, right guys?" He seemed unconvinced, even to his own words.

"Umm, so tell me again Hiccup." Kayta began, her enthusiasm dropping to pure timidness in what seemed like a split-second. "Why did you want to come here again? It's damp, cold, and to be honest, spooky as hell."

"Pure curiosity."

Hiccup took smaller and smaller paces, each one with less illumination than the last. But oddly enough, the ground seemed to get… mushier as he went further in. Mud? Not enough light to see the fellow next to him, much less the floor.

"What the hell am I stepping on?" Kale's voice boomed from the darkness along with what sounded like the crunching of eggshells with the soft mush of feet pressing against mud. "My damn boots are covered in this stuff now."

"Shut up about your footwear. We're walking through the same crap."

"Anyone got a torch?"

"Yeah, I do." One responded from further into the cave. Shortly after, a rustling sound arose from the same direction. Presumably, the boy was rummaging through his rucksack. A small 'splap' of a hard object hitting against the oddly textured ground echoed throughout the cave.

"Tch." The boy remarked.

Small, sudden bursts of light bounced around on the passage walls, coupled with the unmistakable sound of metal striking against flint.

Come on Toothless, you better hide well.

"Damnit, I can't get it lit."

"Let me have a go." Kale went up.

In the bear minimal flashes of light, an object shuffled past the corner of his eye. He couldn't exactly see it, but he could definitely hear it.

"No, no, you're doing it wrong."

"Give it here!"

"You've had your chance!"

Hiccup could hear the other youths lurching further into the cave to crowd around the unlit torch, each spouting their input until the simple 'let me have a go' turned into a mess of unintelligible prattle with insults being thrown in the toss-up. The shuffling of the unknown thing began again; quiet enough to slip past the ears of everyone else, but yet still distinguishable enough for Hiccup to hear. It was probably his Night Fury, using his natural inbred stealth to pass the whole group undetected, but still, what was his dragon thinking? Did he want to get caught? What point was it to get ahead of everyone…? A very reserved cat-like hiss sounded from behind him. Now, _that _was Toothless. But then, what was…

Why was his Night Fury hissing?

"There!" One of the boys cheered. "Told ya I knew how." The torch further caught, illuminating his self-satisfied smirk.

A deathly silence ensued the cave. The boy glanced around, receiving nothing but blank stares and fully dropped jaws.

Scales of dim red to dark brown gleamed in the flickering light as the creature drew its head towards the boy in front. A puff of air lifted the locks of his hair, tensing his muscles as well as his mind. And, to make matters worse, around his feet were shield sized objects, white, some broken and scattered in pieces, others, lying as wholes.

Eggs. Dragon eggs.

An ear shattering roar blasted through the cave, sending hands snapping up to the side of heads in a feeble attempt for defence against the ear splitting cry.

* * *

School + writing = Doesn't work out too well.

Sorry for the delay guys, life kind of just craps on you whenever it feels like it. And I'm also sorry for the cliffhanger and the end, I know how much that can annoy people…

(Well, not really sorry, it helps keep your attention)

And. Don't forget to review.


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